Danganronpa Another Episode IF: Ultra Despair Girls
by RocketAce
Summary: An unofficial sequel to Danganronpa IF & adaptation of Danganronpa AE. After Class 78 escapes Hope's Peak Academy, they're saved by the Future Foundation. Mukuro then wants to start atoning for her past, so she vows to go to Towa City, where her classmate's loved ones are held at. She meets Komaru who is related to someone she loves & the two will have to work together to survive.
1. Saved By The Future Foundation

**So this is my next story. For those who are unaware, Danganronpa is a videogame series created and developed by Spike Chunsoft. It's a series that revolves around the themes of Hope versus Despair and it's a very over the top one as well.**

 **This story is a unofficial sequel to an official light novel called "Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc IF," which is an unlockable light novel found in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, which you receive once you complete the main game. Danganronpa IF is basically the events of the first Danganronpa 1 game, playing out differently, and this story is going to be both an adaptation of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls and a sequel to Danganronpa IF. It will both be similar and different to the story of the original Danganronpa Another Episode, and this will also incorporate aspects from Danganronpa 3 (which was the anime that concluded the original story from Danganronpa 1 as a whole), and the franchise in general with the exception being the upcoming Danganronpa V3 game in the future.  
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 **Just as a forewarning, this story will have spoilers from Danganronpa 1, Danganronpa IF, Danganronpa 2, Danganronpa Another Episode, and Danganronpa 3. Basically if you don't want to get spoiled on any of these works, then do not proceed unless you're willing.**

 **Also this story will be rated M also as a forewarning. I am not going to hold back, on "mature," content if needed for certain situations so please be aware, for both a warning and disclaimer possibly. This is my only warning and disclaimer as I want to make it very clear that this story is not going to be for the faint of heart, prudish, and so on if needed.  
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 **I hope you all enjoy this first chapter and this story in general in the future.  
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 **All licensed content is owned by Spike Chunsoft and their associates.**

* * *

The world is full of IFs.

Everyone in humanity always ponders with either curiosity or regret at some point, wondering how the result for something be different had that thing been handled differently. Different choices lead to different outcomes, different paths, and ultimately different results.

This is a tale of an IF, that continues off a previous IF, and has its own take on the next main events that are set to occur. This is the tale of that next IF in that saga of events.

Let's begin that IF now.

* * *

It looked like Hell outside of Hope's Peak Academy as the fifteen students of Class 78, who has just escaped it saw. What exactly is Hope's Peak Academy? It was originally a school that had students with exceptional talents enrolled in it. It would take any student in who excelled in anything they were exceptionally good at, and essentially guaranteed that student a great future if they continued to excel at their talent, and earn them a nearly guaranteed high position within their field after graduation. All the students who were part of Class 78 (and anyone in the previous classes) were all considered "Ultimates" or "Super High School Level," in something, which were terms that Hope's Peak Academy interchangeably used to deem their talented individuals. Each of them were basically a master of whatever skill, craft, ability, or talent they had in general. One of the ideals of the academy, was that these talented students would help bring more hope into the world in general.

However currently, Hope's Peak Academy was more of a living hellhole itself due to recent developments. The school building of Hope's Peak Academy was converted into a place that was going to bring great despair to the world due to a certain person who had taken it over in its entirety. That person actually being one of the sixteenth students, of Class 78 who was extremely influential with her prowess, charisma, and power. That person being Junko Enoshima. She was an individual obsessed with despair and would stop at nothing to feel despair and bring despair to others if possible. For her, despair embodied her completely. Her plan involving the rest of her class and trapping them in Hope's Peak Academy and forcing them into the "Killing School Life." A plan that would have them all murder each other for a chance to escape, all while she would broadcast this to the rest of the world, making the world feel despair seeing the students who would supposedly bring hope fall into despair themselves. She had all but one student's memory erased, so they wouldn't know the outside world was in a state of hell at the moment.

The fifteen teenager students escaped the taken over Hope's Peak Academy, through a combination of both skill and mostly extremely lucky circumstances, while Junko herself went missing and into hiding. One of the fifteen students who apparently was working with Junko, who had just trapped them in the school earlier had just decided to betray her, and help her fellow students escape due to a change of heart. That student being Mukuro Ikusaba, who was actually Junko's sister (despite the different last names, they were blood related). During these sets of circumstances, they had regained lost memories that Junko had erased from all of them, somewhat, with both Mukuro and one other student (who had managed to regain his memories after something lucky happened to him) recalling as much as they could. These memories being the past two years of their time in Hope's Peak Academy.

The fifteen students at the moment who escaped with the exception of Mukuro, looked either extremely nervous, surprised, and/or frustrated by what they saw, depending on the individual. The ground was lifeless with the lack of green grass, the trees were devoid of any foliage whatsoever, and the sky was painted red with dark clouds, as if they were really in the apocalypse. This was The Tragedy. An event where the world was engulfed in despair, and one where people were either followers of Junko Enoshima's despair ideals or tried to fight back against it. The world was currently in a state of complete chaos due to all of Junko's followers. The elite followers of her group were known as Ultimate Despairs, (while she herself was considered the true Ultimate Despair.)

"What the hell!?" shouted Mondo Owada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, whose eyes were bugging out by what he was seeing. He was a tall and muscular student that wore a black biker jacket with dragon symbol designs and Japanese characters. He also wore a white muscle shirt, and white loafers for shoes, and his hair was styled as a pompadour, though it kind of looked like orange corn on the cob. He was a tough guy that was in charge of the toughest biker gang in Japan at the moment, though even his tough personality was not handling this well. "What is all of this bullshit!?"

"Stay calm… stay calm!" Kiyotaka Ishimaru the Ultimate Moral Compass said with sweat dripping down his face, as he felt like this must have been delusions his head produced after not getting enough sleep and after what they had just endured, as he tried to remain calm. He wore a white military styled uniform, black boots, and had black hair and red eyes. He was a very hard working and moral abiding individual. Though at the moment, he was just trying to not freak out. "The world being like this is as Mukuro said… maybe it can get better soon, since we just escaped… to it?"

"How the hell can I stay calm in this kind of situation!? If I ever do get calm, it's not any time soon, that's for damn sure Taka!" Mondo shouted back to Ishimaru by his nickname the other students had for him, while Taka's face was starting to lose more of its composure, from what Mondo said back to him.

"This… this can't be real," Aoi Asahina said as the Ultimate Swimming Pro said in disbelief, with a fearful expression on her face. She wore a red sports jacket over a white T-shirt and wore blue shorts and red sneakers. She had blue eyes, tanned skin, and brown hair wrapped in a ponytail. She normally had an energetic tomboy personality, but that energy was drained from her being from what she was currently seeing.

"I would like to believe that too Hina, but as it currently stands… I don't think that's the case," Sakura Oogami the Ultimate Martial Artist said to Asahina while using her nickname, with extreme hesitance on her face, not sure how to react at her current surroundings. She wore a normal school uniform that had a white shirt that had the sleeves torn off for her muscular arms as, she was extremely muscular and ripped in general, had red tanned skin, wore a blue skirt and red tie, and gray shoes. She had whitish hair, and a scar on her face as well.

"Sherlock Holmes or Arthur Conan Doyle depending on how you look at it once said, when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable… must be the truth," Toko Fukawa the Ultimate Writing Prodigy said reluctantly, as she was biting one of her thumbs from frustration and fear from what she saw of the world before her. She wore a purple school uniform dress and skirt, a red tie, circular glasses, and brown shoes. She had dark purple hair, and brown eyes.

"After everything we just went through… well I shouldn't say I'm surprised," Leon Kuwata the Ultimate Baseball Star said nervously. He wore a white blazer jacket with popped collars, a white T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and white platform shoes. He had red spiky hair and a red goatee, and wore a chain necklace. Despite being a sportsman, his personality leaned more towards a rock star normally. However this wasn't a normal situation at the moment, as he felt uneasy.

"That's true. Everything we all just experienced wasn't fake unfortunately," Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation said with pure terror on her face. She wore a traditional white school uniform that had long white sleeves that covere her arms, with a blue sailor collar, a pink bow, a blue skirt, black thigh high socks, and brown buckled shoes. She had long blue hair, blue eyes, and had a friendly demeanor normally.

"We just escaped what was basically a nightmare… so for the outside world to be like this too is…" Chihiro Fujisaki the Ultimate Programmer said very sadly as tears threatened to leak out of the very soft spoken and kindhearted individual as this was hard for him to accept. He was dressed with a dark green girl's school uniform with a brown skirt, black leggings and brown shoes. By this point, he had let them know that he was really a guy, as earlier he tried to his what his true gender to them while they were in Hope's Peak Academy. He had a very kindhearted personality, and was very distraught by what was happening as of late.

"It looks like we were transported to a game of Fallout or something!" screamed out Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator. He was an obese guy who wore thick black glasses, a white button down shirt with a grey cardigan, an orange tie with a blue arrow going down it, an orange backpack on his back. He also wore dark gray trousers and gray shoes, and had black hair. He continued to talk as if to try to calm himself from what he saw. "Then again this isn't a nuclear apocalypse, so it could be worse,"

"I predict that this is all a bad nightmare, and we'll wake up from it soon!" Yasuhiro Hagakure the Ultimate Clairvoyant comically yelled out, as he didn't like this at all as well. He had large and brown dreadlocks, wore dark green pants, sandals, and his dark green Hope's Peak Academy uniform jacket over a shite shirt and a small yellow sleeve shirt below that. He tended to be the kind of guy who got into a lot of weird situations and was very bad when it came to handling money. He was freaking out from what he was seeing, as the outside of Hope's Peak Academy was proving just as bad, arguably even worse than the inside to him.

"Be quiet Hiro. None of us are in the mood to hear your stupid predictions," Celestia Ludenberg (or Celeste as she personally preferred) the Ultimate Gambler commented, using Hagakure's nickname, sounding a bit irritated at what she saw. She had her black hair done with two large drill like hair pigtails, had red eyes, and she wore Gothic Lolita styled clothing with a black jacket, red tie, black skirt that had white laces on them, and black leggings with white laces and red heelless shoes. She was said to be very two faced, though at the moment, she was showing anger at what she was seeing (though perhaps that was to mask any fear she might have actually felt as well).

"For now, we should try to find and seek shelter. Remaining here is a waste of time," Byakuya Togami the Ultimate Affluent Progeny said with a frustrated tone, as he did not like this current situation at all. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, wore thin eyeglasses, a black jacket over a white shirt with a green tie, black pants and black shoes. He was known to be very arrogant and elitist, but the current situation proved to be quite humbling to him, he had to admit.

"I agree. There's no point staying here at the moment," Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective said with acknowledgement, as she surveyed the area with her eyes. Kyoko had long lavender hair that was braided at the end, purple eyes, and wore a dark purple jacket over a white blouse with a brown tie, black gloves, dark purple skirt, and dark purple heeled knee-high boots. She was very perceptive as which was befitting her talents, and right now she was perceiving they should all not be in this current area anymore.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, suddenly they all heard a peculiar sound, that grew louder and louder as they stood outside the entrance of the escaped Hope's Peak Academy.

"What's that sound?" Makoto Naegi the Ultimate Lucky Student weakly said, as he was injured while he was trapped in the school. He had brown hair that was slightly spiky and had a prominent ahoge (a noticeable strand of hair which sticks in a different direction out of the rest), hazel colored eyes, and a slim and petite body. He wore a dark green dulled out hoodie, a black jacket over the hoodie, black jeans and red shoes. Out of all the students there, he was the first to remember how the outside world was, due to an extremely lucky event that happened to him at Hope's Peak Academy. Those memories were full of death, destruction, and most of all… despair. While he was in the academy, he was attacked by Junko by a dangerous trick intended for Mukuro that he took for her. This selfless act ended up saving her, and then all of them in the long run, due to what it caused Mukuro to do afterwards in response to Junko, leading them all to escape. Before they escaped the academy, Mukuro and the others had managed to nurse him back to better health compared to before, though he still needed more proper rest.

"Two transport helicopters," Mukuro Ikusaba, the Ultimate Soldier calmly stated as she removed the strawberry blonde wig (that resembled either pinkish blonde or blondish pink hair depending on how you look at it) that made her resemble her sister and threw it to the ground aside from her, and let her short black hair out, as they soon all saw two large black transport helicopters branded with the two words "Future Foundation," on it, as they saw it approaching them. She also had blue eyes which her sister also had, which made them look similar, though she had very light freckles below both of her eyes, which her sister didn't have, which helped made the two distinct from each others.

Mukuro was currently wearing clothes her sister Junko would wear, since she was disguised as her earlier. Mukuro was wearing a black cardigan over a white dress shirt, a red miniskirt, a white and black tie, medium sized black boots with with platform heels and red laces, and finally she was wearing fake red nails on her hands. She did not normally wear this tire, as she was never one for fashion. She normally wore a normal white school uniform shirt with short sleeves, a black skirt, and a red ribbon like tie around her neck, black leggings and black shoes, which she normally wore when she was still just a normal student at Hope's Peak Academy. She also had a tattoo on her right hand that depicted the wolf beast Fenrir, which was the name of the group she used to serve in the past. Right now she was covering up the tattoo with foundation. Mukuro was disguised as Junko as that was originally her role in a plan where she originally was planning to help her sister in all of this. However the events of Makoto saving her life, and finding out her own sister was willing to betray and murder her, had led her to a change of plans. This now led to the current scene at the moment.

Both helicopters soon landed. One was filled with Future Foundation solders that came out wearing black helmets, armor, and sunglasses, while also carrying firearms as well. Their soldier uniforms were also all branded with the words Future Foundation, as they headed for Hope's Peak Academy to begin searching for the notes of Yatsuke Matsuda, who was the Ultimate Neurologist and anything else in Hope's Peak Academy of value and/or use. Those notes were key to Junko's original plans for the killing life that failed, as it involved erasing all their memories. If they could find those notes, the memories of the escaping students could be fully restored. Though for now, the other students were satisfied with what was recounted to them by both Makoto and Mukuro. The Future Foundation was an organization formed to combat Ultimate Despair in response, mostly made up of former Hope's Peak Academy alumni and staff.

The other transport helicopter landed nearby the surviving students, as two Future Foundation soldiers stepped out of it. Mukuro knew the Future Foundation would not take kindly to her, so she had to be ready for any possibility, especially now that was it made public that she and Junko were the Despair Sisters. The original Ultimate Despairs.

"We are here to rescue you all! All of you please board this helicopter now, and we will bring you all to a safe location!" one of the two Future Foundation soldiers yelled out. All the students but Mukuro looked towards the soldiers with different levels of unease or skepticism, not sure whether to trust them or not. Mukuro however was aware of what the Future Foundation was, due to working with Junko, and she knew that from past experience, these soldiers were legitimate.

"We can trust them. The Future Foundation was the organization made to counter Ultimate Despair in response. Let's board their helicopter now before anything else happens to us," Mukuro explained. Hearing this, they all looked back towards Hope Peak Academy for what was possibly the last time and then towards the helicopter and they all slowly, but surely began to board the transport helicopter. The only two left who hadn't boarded was Mukuro and Makoto, as Mukuro was helping Makoto walk towards the transporting helicopter. However, when both were near the entrance, the two soldiers stopped them from boarding, as they both noticed who Mukuro was.

"Wait! You… you're one of the Ultimate Despairs, aren't you!" one of the soldiers angrily shouted out, as he pulled a handgun out on Mukuro. Mukuro had a stoic expression, understanding why they felt the way they did towards her, while Makoto had a frustrated and fearful expression form on his face. "I should just kill her right now!"

"Don't shoot! She saved my life! She saved all of our lives!" Makoto shouted out, while the soldiers looked at Makoto with a confused look. Apparently these two soldiers were not watching the broadcastings of the failed Killing School Life that revealed that she did do as Makoto said. "She deserves to be saved like the rest of us!"

"What?" the other Future Foundation soldier said confused and surprised by what he heard. The soldier who didn't have their handgun trained on Mukuro, looked toward all the students within the helicopter. "Is he telling the truth?"

"Yes. She helped saved all of us," Kyoko calmly stated, as the other students nodded in agreement with what Kyoko said. The soldier then looked unsure of what to do or say, till he pulled out a cellphone he had on him.

"I'm going to call command. Ask them what's the best course of action for this," the Future Foundation soldier said to the other soldier, who still had their handgun trained on Mukuro, as they both made sure she and Makoto would not board the transport helicopter yet, till they decided what the best way to handle this was.

* * *

We now see what appeared to be a large communications room within the Future Foundation's headquarters, as many people were in it, seated in front of various monitors. They were all looking at the largest monitor in the room, that depicted the scene of Hope's Peak Academy with a camera drone flying nearby the area, seeing how Mukuro and Makoto were barred entry on the helicopter, and how one of the soldiers would soon be calling them. They also all saw the failed Killing School Life that Junko broadcasted as well recently. We focus on four particular individuals in this room

"What do you want to do Munakata?" asked Kazuo Tengan, an old man who had gray hair for his age and had a mustache and a slight beard. He wore a light brown jacket over a dark brown vest over a white shirt and red tie, brown pants, and glasses. He was the founder and chairmen of the Future Foundation and was essentially in charge of its 1st Division which revolved around leadership, though as of late he became more of a figurehead and passed it to the one in charge of the 2nd Division. He wanted to fight against the despair in the world, but wanted to avoid violence if possible.

"We should just kill that despair bitch!" Juzo Sakakura commented with anger as he did not like the person he saw at all, due to her association with the one responsible for the world basically being a despair filled hell at the moment. He wore a dark green jacket that had black thick fur trimming, a white muscle shirt, black pants, and long black boots. He was in charge of the Future Foundation's 6th division (which was in charge of policing) and was also the Ultimate Boxer. He was someone who was quick to anger, and currently he hated how everything in the world was and everyone involved with the world leading to its status.

"But what about what that boy Makoto said?" Chisa Yukizome said in a concerned sounding manner. She had orange hair tied into a ponytail, green eyes, and was wearing a white coat over a black vest that over a pink dress. She also wore a black skirt, black tights, and black mid heel shoes as well. She was in charge of the Future Foundation's 5th Division (which specialized in intelligence, inquiry, and counter espionage) and was also the Ultimate Housekeeper. She had a motherly and warm personality in general.

We now focus on the last of the Division Heads in the room. Kyosuke Munakata, who was the head of the Future Foundation's 2nd Division (which was involved with managing nearly all of its main operations, military, and anything involving contractions and operations) and was the person really in charge as of late. He was also the Ultimate Student Council President, and proved to be a very charismatic individual, which helped him attain his current position. He wore a pale silver suit that complimented his silver bowl cut styled hair on his head, with a blue dress shirt, a faded pink tie, and gray dress shoes. Finally he had what appeared to be a black, sword sheathe, attached to a gray belt he wore for his pants, and had a sword within it, as he was also a skilled swordsman.

Munakata currently had a cold expression on his face as he went deep into thought, while the three other Division Head Future Foundation members were with him at the moment, waiting for a response from him. All the other current Division Heads that weren't in the room with them, were elsewhere, handling other matters. He then opened his eyes finally and decided to answer them.

"I want to interrogate all of them by myself. That includes Ikusaba as well. That's all," Munakata the person who was basically really in charge of the Future Foundation stated calmly but with a hint of anger in it. Chisa and Tengan nodded, while Juzo rolled his eyes but reluctantly agreed with what Munakata said. Soon Munakata felt his smartphone in his pants vibrating, as he took it out and answered immediately. "Bring them all back to our headquarters. Have them all come to the meeting room,"

"Yes sir," the soldier on the other line responded, thought with a bit of hesitance, as this meant they would have to have who was considered one of the Ultimate Despairs on board the transport helicopter with them. Munakata then closed his own phone, and headed towards the conference room in the building while Tengan decided to follow, wanting to be a part of that meeting once it inevitably happened, while everyone else stayed where they were. The soldier then placed his cellphone away, as he then decided to take out a pair of handcuffs he had on his being and showed it to the two teenagers.

"She can go on the transport helicopter, but only if she keeps these handcuffs on," the soldier stated.

"That's ridiculous! She shouldn't have to do that at all!" Makoto said surprised and annoyed. Before he could say anything more, Mukuro decided to speak up herself.

"No Makoto… it's okay. Its fine," Mukuro said as Makoto looked at her, after hearing her say that. "I don't mind wearing the handcuffs. If that's what's needed of me to get on with everyone else, then so be it,"

"Mukuro…" Makoto said quietly, unsure of how to feel about what he just heard from her, feeling bad for her. Soon they slowly and carefully cuffed her hands with the handcuffs, binding them together, as the two were brought on board. The transport helicopter soon took off, while the two soldiers inside it, had their guns trained on Mukuro. The other students in the transport helicopter felt at unease, as it felt as if they were trigger happy and ready to shoot her at a moment's notice. Makoto in particular had mixed emotions appear on his face, angry and saddened by the way they were treating her.

Eventually the helicopter arrived at a landing pad, at the headquarters for the Future Foundation. The students were led out of it by the two soldiers, and into the building and all of them soon found themselves in a dark meeting room. They all saw two individuals at the end of an elongated round table in the middle of the large room. One being a young man in his twenties and the other was a bearded and mustached old man wearing glasses.

"For the escaped students in this room, I'm Kyosuke Munakata, head of the 2nd Division of the Future Foundation and he's Kazuo Tengan, chairmen and founder of the Future Foundation overall," Munakata explained to the survivors.

"I'm glad to see all of you made it to the Future Foundation Headquarters safely," Tengan said calmly, as by now, the group as a whole were aware that they were saved by a group called the Future Foundation.

"Sirs! All fifteen survivors from Hope's Peak Academy are here and present," one of the two soldiers announced.

"Good. Also hand me the key that belongs to the handcuffs wrapped around that despair," Munakata asked. After he received the key from the soldier who carried it, he then continued talking. "Both of you are dismissed."

"Hey! Why didn't any of you Future Foundation people, remove her handcuffs?" Makoto shouted at the two soldiers who ignored him, as they were soon gone, annoyed that they didn't bother removing her handcuffs.

"That doesn't matter." Munakata said with distaste in his voice, disgusted that he was even defending her at all. "She's despair, just like her sister. You're lucky I haven't had her killed yet."

Makoto was about to retort, but Mukuro soon softly shook her head towards him, to signal not to speak. Makoto stayed silent as he stared at Munakata. Hiro awkwardly coughed and spoke, trying to break the tension in the room.

"Ummm… so we all can go rest in a room and eat and sleep, right?" Hiro said, gulping with nervousness.

"Yeah. What he said," Hifumi added with his own nervousness. "We're all pretty tired after what we just been through,"

"Of course," Tengan said nicely, as both Hiro and Hifumi sighed in relief from what they heard. "We've prepared for each of you a room with your own beds, bathrooms, clothes, and any other amenities to help you rest and recover in, while you are here with us,"

"But not till I question you all. Especially… her," Munakata said with complete seriousness, as everyone turned to look at Mukuro who had a stoic expression, shown towards Munakata. "Mukuro Ikusaba. The Ultimate Soldier. Sister to the true Ultimate Despair. Let me start off by asking you this,"

He then drew his blade out of his sword's sheathe on his belt, and pointed his sword towards Mukuro. All the students except Mukuro, felt pressure within them rise, even the ones that tended to be more calmer and composed normally, as the atmosphere was so thick with tension.

"Why should I keep you alive?" Munakata asked calmly but with hints of pure hate, with his sword still drawn and pointed towards her. Mukuro closed her eyes, as everyone waited for her to say something in response. She then opened them and answered him back.

"I want… redemption," Mukuro calmly said, though that wasn't fully true. She had two more of her own reasons why she wanted to do this as well. Redemption was her third reason to some degree, but not as significant as the two main ones that she kept only to herself. Everyone stayed silent from what they heard. Makoto in particular felt at unease, as the silence in the room continued to grow. Munakata glared harshly at her back from what he heard, surprised she even had the nerve to say such a thing and then he slowly began to laugh at what he heard. Everyone but Tengan and Mukuro shuddered at Munakata's laughter as it sounded so surreal.

"Redemption? You want to redeem yourself after all that you helped caused to happen to this world?" Munakata asked with pure malice in his voice towards her. "You're nothing more than a monster like the legendary beast of Fenrir itself. Fenrir was a beast that devoured everything in its way. Fitting for a soldier who used to be part of a group named after it,"

"She helped saved all of us!" Makoto yelled out, taking Munakata's attention towards him. "If she truly was some monster, she would have made sure we stayed trapped at Hope's Peak Academy and be forced to take part of Junko's killing game!"

"It sounds to me, you have Stockholm syndrome towards her, or something along those lines." Munakata mused while Makoto focused his attention on Munakata. "Don't act like we haven't seen the footage, considering Enoshima was broadcasting the events of what was happening in the academy all over the world. We're well aware of what Ikusaba did in there,"

"Then why… why do you feel this way towards her?" Makoto asked, confused and frustrated.

"She is one of the reasons why you all were trapped in Hope's Peak Academy in the first place. Also, one of the reasons why this world has become a despair wasteland. I don't see anything she can do to ever make up for what she did," Munakata answered. Before Makoto could respond back, Mukuro decided to speak up.

"Maybe you're right," Mukuro calmly stated, as the attention in the room shifted to her. "Maybe nothing I ever do will ever be enough to make up for my involvement for what I did. Maybe I will forever be branded as someone in history to be despised, for the rest of my life and for the rest of my reputation. I can accept that. But I want to atone for what I did for my own reasons. And I know a way for me to start doing that,"

"And what way is that exactly?" Munakata asked skeptically. Mukuro paused to take a breath, as she then sighed to collect her thoughts. She then calmly responded to Munakata, with something that caught both his and Tengan's attention.

"Towa City," Mukuro stated, confusing the other students in the room while both Munakata and Tengan's eyes lit up from hearing that city mentioned. "Towa City is where one person considered most important to each student here, is being held. I want to go to Towa City in the future to help find and save them all,"

Now everyone else's attention was caught by Mukuro as well. Munakata and Tengan were intrigued by hearing about Towa City being involved, while the others due to the connection they all just made with what she just said. What Mukuro just brought up, was related to the first motive they were given by Junko, while they were all trapped in Hope's Peak Academy, before anyone could be tempted to murdering each other. How people connected to them all were held hostage, and unless they killed, there was a chance they be harmed.

"Oh shit!" Mondo yelled out as he remembered something regarding someone he considered very close from the motive video he saw. "Then that must mean… Yukimura is being held in this Towa City place!"

"Yuta's in Towa City!?" Asahina shouted out, as she remembered being told that her young brother was held hostage from that motive video she saw.

"Dad!" both Taka and Chihiro's voices cried out, realizing that was where their fathers were most likely being held there.

"Mama!" Hiro yelled out, and while normally some of the other students would mock him for crying out for his mother, they understood that this was a serious situation where they all could emphasize with him.

"Fujiko!" Hifumi cried out, remembering his older sister was being held hostage, worried for her. The other remaining students had mixed expressions on their faces, as they didn't yell out the names of their loved ones being held captive, but they cared just as much at the moment as well. Makoto taking this all in, finally decided to say something.

"One of my family members… is being held in a place called Towa City?" Makoto asked quietly towards Mukuro. She looked towards him and nodded.

"I'm sure it's your sister, from what I know and remember," Mukuro said, as Makoto felt relieved that one of his family members was at the very least safe and her location was known. His younger sister Komaru. "I want to go to Towa City alone in the future and save all of my classmate's closest ones,"

Munakata and Tengan looked at each other, as it seemed like a huge opportunity opened themselves to them, concerning Towa City, and nodded to each other. Munakata placed his sword back into it's sheathe as well now.

"Excuse us both for a moment, as we both step outside to discuss what you have just told us missy," Tengan said calmly, as both him and Munakata stepped out to leave the room, leaving the surviving students in the room behind. As soon as they were both out, Kyoko decided to make a comment.

"Something about those two concern me, despite them rescuing us," Kyoko stated.

"What do you mean by that?" Hifumi asked, as he didn't understand what she meant by saying that.

"Yeah. I mean they do intend to give us all proper shelter here and all," Hiro added.

"Clearly, they have something to gain out of Towa City, besides more survivors," Byakuya said to respond to them, feeling they had some other motive as well. "Still… regardless of that… if Mukuro manages to rescue those she mentioned from Towa City…"

"Then it's an opportunity she should take," Celeste stated with absolute certainty, as she wanted the one she considered closest to her saved as well.

"Yes. I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment," Sakura added in agreement.

"Please you got to do it!" Leon shouted with ferocity. "My cousin is there and I'm worried about her!"

"My friend should be in Towa City," Sayaka stated, feeling as if her own life depended on her friend's survival. "I hope she's safe,"

"These two Future Foundation guys, better let her go to Towa City then," Toko said irritably.

"I'll do my best. I just hope those two give me the opportunity to do so," Mukuro stated quietly. Silence filled the room as they waited for Munakata and Tengan to return. Eventually both did as Tengan returned to where he sat originally while Munakata slowly walked towards Mukuro and stopped before her. Munakata had an intense glare focused on Mukuro while her face remained stoic and serious, unfazed by the glare she received. Then he began to draw out his sword from his sheathe, causing everyone else but Tengan and Mukuro to grow concerned.

"What are you doing!?" Makoto yelled, surprised by the sight he saw. Mukuro however merely held her hands out and before anyone could say or do anything else, with one powerful swift slash, Munakata sliced the chains holding her cuffs together. Everyone stayed dead silent, as the pieces of the chain fell to the floor as both Munakata and Mukuro looked at each other with very serious expressions.

"Consider this rescue mission of the people connected to all of you survivors your first step to redemption… on your road to atonement, when you embark on it in the future. Depending on how it goes, perhaps myself and others in the Future Foundation may be willing to give you more chances to you to redeem yourself more," Munakata explained, as Mukuro merely nodded. "But… if we ever have reason and official confirmation that you are still part of the despair that is destroying this world in the future…"

Munakata then brought his sword near Mukuro's neck, while she stood her ground and didn't flinch, while everyone else looked either fearful, sad, or frustrated by what they saw.

"I will not hesitate to remove you from this world. Do you understand?" Munakata said, while Mukuro nodded to him with a serious expression, still not intimidated by what he was doing. Seeing that she understood, he took out the key to her handcuffs that she had on her hands and decided to unlock the actual cuffs on her wrists, letting them be free now. "Good. Now I along with Tengan need to talk with the rest of you about various matters…"

Time passed as Munakata and Tengan spoke with each surviving student and asked multiple and various questions. After everyone was finished being interviewed, Munakata led them to a living quarter's area in the headquarters. There was a room for each of them already prepared that had the basic amenities for each of them. They all split up, tired and exhausted from everything that had occurred to them earlier.

* * *

We focus on Mukuro as she changed into what appeared to be a normal white school uniform, one that she wore when she was just a normal student at Hope's Peak Academy. She had showered in the bathroom in the room, and changed into this new set of attire that consisted of what she would normally wear, instead of her Junko disguise. Attire like a normal white school uniform shirt with short sleeves, a black skirt, a red ribbon like tie around her neck, black leggings and black shoes. She also had had her tattoo of Fenrir on her right hand exposed now, washing off the foundation she had on it, from the shower she had earlier. This change of attire was much more preferable for her, as it was more flexible and comfortable in comparison. She was sitting on the white bed in the room, and looked around, as the blue walls had wallpaper full of Future Foundation propaganda, and a white wooden door lead into the room.

"What am I going to do?" Mukuro said, uncertain in her situation. She cared about Makoto. She cared about Junko as well. Makoto was the love of her life (for more then one reason), whereas Junko was her sister and family. She wanted to give hope back to Makoto because she cared about him, yet she wanted to give despair to Junko. She decided the best way to do both was to basically cause Junko's plans to fall apart. It would give both hope back to Makoto and cause Junko to fall into despair. To start with this, she would start with heading over to Towa City in the future, and doing what she can there with what she said earlier. She couldn't help but feel tense though despite her plan, which sounded so simple to her earlier. She knew that actually pulling off the plan, was a different thing altogether, along with a host of other factors. Was it because of the Future Foundation? Was it because of Towa City? Was it because of Junko, still out there in the world somewhere? Was it because of her classmates? Was it because of Makoto? Was it because of just a combination of everything in general?

Mukuro's thoughts were interrupted as she heard someone knocking onto the door to her room. She got up from her bed and walked over to the door and opened it and saw that it was Kyosuke Munakata. Her face turned stoic upon seeing him.

"I am here to inform you… that you have one additional task in Towa City." Munakata said calmly. "I want you to look into the Towa Group while you are in Towa City and bring evidence of… I shouldn't need to say, considering you're involvement with Junko Enoshima and her personal handling of her involvements. Perhaps the rumors of Towa Group are true, perhaps they're not but nonetheless I want you to look into it. I like to look into every matter, rumors or not. Towa Group are wary of the Future Foundation for some reason. Perhaps you might be able to find the answers to that,"

Mukuro remained silent to him, as her face remained stoic, while Munakata simply sighed and glared back at her.

"Hmph. That road to atonement is a long one Mukuro Ikusaba. The more you do, the more you can atone for your past. I'll let you decide if this is something you want to do along with what you suggested. Just consider this extra task an extra incentive to help pave that road of atonement… when you finally venture into Towa City in the future," Munakata calmly explained. He then walked out of the room and closed the door to it. Mukuro went back to her bed, feeling even more distraught.

"What he just said, didn't help at all," Mukuro whispered in frustration as there were many things that would have to be cleared up in general in the future. So many things had happened just when they were escaping out of Hope's Peak Academy, the events that had just unfolded, the events of the past, the events of the future possibly, and finally all of those who were connected to her. Her mind felt like it was ready to explode, as she closed her eyes, and placed her hands over her head, as everything felt so overwhelming at the moment.

"Mukuro? Are you okay?" a familiar kind voice called out to her. Her eyes awoke as she looked towards the door to her room. She walked over towards it and opened the door and saw Makoto.

"Makoto? You shouldn't be up at the moment," Mukuro said, feeling out of all of the students who escaped Hope's Peak Academy, he needed the most rest considering what happened. "You should be in your room resting, after everything that's happened."

"It's okay. Besides, I think I rather be with you, at least for this moment," Makoto said quietly. Mukuro gently helped him into the room, as they both sat on the bed in her room, and looked at each oher. "I left my room and headed over here to see you. I saw Munakata walking away from your room when I left my own room to go here. I kind of grew even more concerned,"

"Don't worry. Everything's fine," Mukuro said. Makoto however looked even more concerned as he wasn't convinced.

"Are you sure? After everything that's happened recently, I wouldn't blame anyone for not feeling… as good as they can be," Makoto said.

Makoto breathed for a bit, as he was still feeling weak, while Mukuro gently patted his back, trying to comfort him. Makoto then smiled and continued.

"But at the same time I just wanted to say some stuff to you before I went to bed. First thing is that we managed to convince the others and make them remember what happened the past two years since our memories were originally stolen by Junko. Secondly we then escaped the killing game that Junko planned for us in Hope's Peak Academy. Third is we were all rescued by the Future Foundation and now we're safe here," Makoto explained. "And finally... we found out that our loved ones are being held at Towa City,"

Mukuro saw Makoto then looked towards her with another friendly smile. She would never get tired of those, as she felt her face become slightly flushed as she looked back at him happily.

"Mukuro… all those things I just mentioned, you helped us all out on. So if you feel bad or anything, just know that I and the others trust you," Makoto said gently.

"I don't know about that. Maybe more compared to before, but I'm sure some of them still would feel hesitance towards me," Mukuro said. "I don't blame them though after everything so it's alright,"

"Well we'll see. I think you definitely convinced some of the others for sure, like Kyoko and Sakura to fully trust you," Makoto answered. Mukuro had managed to gain both their respect, as Mukuro respected Kyoko's decision to find out the truth from her, and Sakura and her were fellow warriors who could be calm when needed, and a tag team that could get the device that let them escape Hope's Peak Academy.

"Thanks… that means a lot, hearing these words from you Makoto," Mukuro said with a smile of her own back. Makoto kept smiling for her. He then hugged her, causing Mukuro to blush, and she was thankful, he couldn't see her blush as he did this and hugged him back in return.

"Anytime Mukuro. Well, I should probably head back to my room and go to sleep soon. I'm starting to feel really tired," Makoto said with a cute yawn, as they both stopped hugging each other.

"Here let me walk you back," Mukuro offered, feeling better compared to before

"Thanks Mukuro. I really appreciate that," Makoto answered warmly back.

"No problem," Mukuro answered back calmly, as they both smiled. She carefully helped him out of her room, and back to his own room. She then returned to her own room, and decided to sleep, deciding it was time she get some proper rest as well, especially after everything that happened.

* * *

We now focus on an unknown location that depicted what looked like a bedroom. What made the room stand out, was that there was tons of photos that were attached to the walls of the room that depicted a certain individual. Who was in those photos couldn't be seen, as the whole room was dark at the moment, while the only source of light was a laptop laying on top of a marble desk in the middle of the room. Someone was in this room, as they were having a video chat with someone on the other line.

"So why are you contacting me?" asked the person in the room with childlike curiosity, and with what sounded like a female childlike voice.

"The Killing School Life plan I had, ended up being a bust. While that was very despair inducing in its own way, that wasn't exactly how I planned things to go," said the person on the other line, though it was very obvious who their identity was. "I'm contacting you, to let you know that sometime in the future I expect, Towa City to get… more involved. And when that happens… just know that I can count on you. With that said, I have to go and handle some other stuff. I'll contact you in the future again if I need to. Later,"

The video chat ended. The person in the room who we couldn't see at the moment began to giggle in a way that would send chills down most people's spines. It seemed Towa City, sometime in the future was about to become the next setting for a clash between hope, despair, and everything in between.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **So how was it? One thing I'll be doing after the end of every chapter is putting down some notes. Some pertaining to the chapter, and sometimes pertaining to the future of the story in general.  
**

 **1\. This story will still incorporate aspects from the main and canon timeline, like how the survivors of Class 78 was rescued by Future Foundation (though in this case, all of the class made it out in the IF Timeline, ignoring Junko who's currently off elsewhere).  
**

 **2.** **The Future Foundation Division Head members are all characters who made their debut in the Danganronpa 3 Anime. As you can see, they're a varied bunch. There are more members besides the ones who have shown so far in this story, though I don't want to say if they will be involved. Probably not.  
**

 **3\. The quote that Toko references is indeed the real thing, as it was a line that Sherlock Holmes once said, as written by his author.** **  
**

 **4\. The characters brought up by Class 78, when referencing their loved ones held hostage, are all characters that are apart or mentioned in Another Episode.**

 **5\. The beginning with the whole IFs intro, kind of references Danganronpa If's intro.**

 **6.** **So as this chapter shows, it's already off to a different start to the original Another Episode, though I do want to make it very clear, that this story will be taking things directly from the original, and at the same time will be doing things differently. At times, the same, at times completely different, and at times a bit of both.**

 **So that should be it for now. If anyone has anything they wish to say, point out, review, etc, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and till the next one!**


	2. Meeting Preparations

**So we have arrived at Chapter 2! First off before I move on I like to address the reviews I have for my previous chapter.**

 **Wow at your review Luckenhaft. That is easily the longest and most humorous review I've ever had for a story so far (and quite the active imagination you have), as I found it both pretty thoughtful and entertaining. Thank you. As for all of your points, I assure you, that this chapter somewhat addresses them. Kind of. But I'll try to comment on what I can.  
**

 **You're definitely right that they wouldn't simply let Mukuro go just as is, to Towa City. So we'll see how they plan to keep tabs on her in this chapter. Also the Yukizome thing will definitely be addressed (as well as two other individuals) in this chapter as well. Fukawa, Togami, and Hagakure aren't going to go down to Towa City at least as of right now. But keep in mind I may change my mind later, and incorporate them somehow (no promises, as I hate to be the person who claims something will happen, but it never does, so I'm not promising anything).**

 **I do want to note I generally planned out the story in general, so a lot of things I have taken into consideration in general (hopefully). Things are generally set in stone, so to speak for the most part for this plot.  
**

 **Next up is** **1995hzq who brought up Yukizome. That is something that will be addressed as it is something I did take into consideration prior to writing this story, during planning.  
**

 **From ShadowDeath01, I'm glad you are enjoying this story, as for the relationship that both of those characters have, while it won't be the primary focus (Mukuro and Komaru's developing friendship will be the overall focus, though Makoto will be the biggest one after somewhat in terms of general relationships), it will be a thing to an extent and definitely noted in general throughout it. (Maybe when I get around to writing Danganronpa 3 IF as a sequel after this story is done, it'll be a bigger thing... maybe. I'm not promising anything yet just to be clear.)**

 **So I want to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed, and had been reading the story so far, so I hope you guys like this next chapter. I was lucky to get this out when I could since normally I'm so busy, as I work at more then one job at the moment. Enjoy!**

* * *

Some time had passed since Class 78 were rescued by the Future Foundation. All of them had slowly readjusted to life in their headquarters and become members themselves. All of Class 78 became part of the Future Foundation's 14th Division (which was public relations; spreading news of Future Foundation's activities to the public) for the organization in general. They have also all become acquainted with the other Division Heads of the Future Foundation besides Kyosuke Munakata and Kazuo Tengan.

Mukuro in particular was very wary and familiar with three other particular members. One being Chisa Yukizome, who would always act different towards her, acting even more motherly, as Mukuro felt extremely mixed about, due to a certain meeting in the past, where she and Junko got very "involved," with her for despair related reasons, when Mukuro was still working for Junko. Mukuro wasn't surprised that Chisa had yet to mention this to anyone, though perhaps it was because what she and Junko did to her, that led to her silence on the matter so far. Mukuro hoped it would stay that way. She knew that Munakata would basically go ballistic had he ever found out, how she was involved with what happened to her exactly. She wasn't in the mood to be making things more difficult at the moment, then it already was.

The next person was Juzo Sakakura. Whenever the two would cross eyes and meet in general, Juzo would still his tongue out of pure determination and frustration, as she and Junko were related to a past incident in regards to him, before The Tragedy occurred. He however decided to act civilly as best as he could around her, as Mukuro was aware of a secret that Juzo had in regards to Munakata and he wanted that secret to remain one. He begrudgingly decided to keep quiet, though it killed him on the inside, that he couldn't punch her to death already, waiting eagerly for the day to give him the reasons and excuses to do so.

The last Division Head member Mukuro was familiar with was Ryota Miterai (who was the Ultimate Animator), who was in charge of the Future Foundation's 10th Division which handled reviving education and culture. He was a person she was also aware of, due to meetings in the past, as the young man proved to be very fearful of her, and kept his distance and mouth shut about her and the past in general. Fearful Mukuro would take any action against him in response if he did bring up the past in anyway. Miterai played a role that had helped Junko achieve The Tragedy, and he also wanted that to remain secret to the other Future Foundation members, seeing how hostile they were in regards to anything or anyone that helped make the world a despair filled hellhole, which was another reason he remained quiet. She kept her connections with these three Division Heads, secret from her classmates as she didn't want to make things more complicated than it already was, considering everything that has happened in general. For now it was best for her to keep things as simple as possible and for as long as possible.

* * *

Mukuro, along with Makoto were now in a meeting with the rest of Class 78, as they were finally ready to begin Mukuro's plan for Towa City in the future. They were all dressed in suits and formal attire in general, each seated in the meeting room where they originally met Munakata and Tengan, with each other. At the moment, they were all discussing three big topics they had to get out of the way before the rescue operation involving Towa City could begin. They started off by discussing one particular big issue regarding the plan to rescue their loved ones from Towa City that Mukuro kept arguing for. The first topic they were discussing, was Mukuro wanting to go to Towa City, solely alone. She didn't want to involve any of her classmates (especially Makoto), but some of them insisted to go as well. Mukuro kept insisting she wanted to go to Towa City alone, but they kept arguing to her, not to do so.

"You shouldn't go alone Mukuro," Sakura said concerned.

"I want to go alone," Mukuro answered back with no hesitation.

"What happens, if something happens to you? I don't think Junko is just going to let anyone just easily rescue our loved ones with no resistance whatsoever," Taka asked.

"She probably has all those killer Monokuma robots at Towa City as well," Leon added. A Monokuma was a half white and half black bear based robot, with its right eye being a normal black one, and it's left one looking like a red horizontal spiky stripe, and had big bulging white belly buttons with an X on them, that Junko had tons of in Hope's Peak Academy. Monokumas could be manually controlled or AI controlled on their own, and were deadly little machines as they had sharp metal bear claws and sharp metal teeth.

"And perhaps more dangerous and deadly things waiting there as well," Sayaka added concerned.

"I won't let anything happen to me," Mukuro stated calmly.

"But that's not a guarantee though," Asahina said concerned.

"I'll make it a guarantee," Mukuro said also with full confidence.

"Don't be fucking stupid! You're not a superhero or some bullshit like that," Mondo yelled, annoyed by what he was hearing.

"You're right. I'm not. I'm the Ultimate Soldier," Mukuro answered back.

"I think what Mondo means is… everyone here is still human, even if we're all really good at something," Chihiro said feeling concerned as well for her.

"Yeah. Plus, even super heroes can have weaknesses. Superman has one, when you consider stuff like Kryptonite and all," Hifumi added, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't have weaknesses," Mukuro stated, causing some frustrated sounds to emerge from some of the other classmates in the room.

"Honestly, even if that was true, that doesn't mean the odds aren't still against you, especially if you choose to go alone," Celeste added with a sigh.

"Stop being so stubborn," Byakuya simply stated, sounding annoyed.

"Yeah! What Master Byakuya said! You shouldn't defy him you know!" Toko added, while everyone else in the room either rolled their eyes or pretended they didn't hear that. Toko had since then revealed inadvertently that she had a big crush on Byakuya, during their time being part of Future Foundation. It didn't help that Toko would sometimes go on about her fantasies about him, causing whoever to be in the vicinity of her while doing so, to have very mixed reactions. Mukuro simply sighed herself, as while she understood where everyone else was coming from, she simply did not want them involved. She then decided to remind them of some things.

"When I was serving in Fenrir, I never took an injury at all during my time there." Mukuro stated. "Out of everyone here I'm the most qualified to go to Towa City,"

"While that might be true, that doesn't mean you never took an injury during combat before," Kyoko pointed out.

"You… you took some hits when you were fighting off those Monokumas, when we were still in Hope's Peak Academy," Makoto said quietly, while Mukuro looked away from everyone, hearing that from him as it was technically true. "We just don't want you to be hurt Mukuro,"

"I know and… I thank and respect you all for that." Mukuro said quietly back. "But going alone is something, that isn't even something I want to do. It's something I… need to do. If I involve you all anymore in this, I just won't feel right,"

"Sounds good to me!" Hiro said out loud, while everyone else either looked at him with either an annoyed, awkward, or blank expression from what they just heard, depending on the individual. "What? Some of us can't fight at all!"

"What would motivate you to go then, you big chicken?" Asahina asked annoyed. Hiro thought for a moment, before he answered back.

"If someone wrote an autobiographical novel about me, saving people at Towa City! It could become a best seller, and help me pay off my debts!" Hiro said with a big cheeky grin, while everyone else just sighed, groaned, or remained quiet at that comment.

"You do know, that the whole point of an autobiography is that the person writes about themselves, right?" Celeste said with an all knowingly tone, as she rolled her eyes at the comment she heard. "Having someone else write about them, it would then be called a biography,"

"Plus, there are way more pressing matters to be taken care of at the moment! You should be ashamed to prioritize money over the world at the moment, Hiro!" Taka scolded as if he were Hiro's guardian.

"How many damn times do we have to go over this. Your debts don't matter anymore, with the whole world going to Hell!" Mondo shouted with rolled eyes.

"I don't think people value currency much, if at all at the moment. At least over other priorities," Chihiro quietly added.

"Well… even if money still mattered, if you wanted someone else to write about you, then perhaps Toko? She is the Ultimate Writing Prodigy. She could probably write a biographical novel about you," Sakura suggested.

"No way! I rather write about someone staring at paint drying all day, then write about crystal ball brain here!" Toko replied annoyed while Hiro looked annoyed at her. "He can get Hifumi to write something about him, if he wants it so bad!"

"Hmmm… it would be a fun scenario possibly," Hifumi said as he pondered the suggestion, while Hiro looked at Hifumi with a big grin. "Hiro here in general has a lot of fun stuff to write about, even if I doubt all of it actually happened to him,"

"Dude, you're actually taking it seriously?" Leon said surprised at what Hifumi said.

"I was being legit, when I told you I got abducted by aliens one time, when I was going home after getting some fast food!" Hiro whined at Hifumi. Sayaka however cleared her throat as everyone's attention was drawn to her.

"We should all probably get back to the main topic," Sayaka reminded.

"Agreed. That tangent was just a waste of even more time," Byakuya added.

"Moving on, if it makes you all satisfied, I've thought of a compromise," Mukuro suggested as they all looked towards her.

"Compromise? What do you have in mind exactly?" Sakura asked, wondering what Mukuro's compromise was going to be.

"I'll bring people to Towa City with me to assist me, when I go to there. But none of you. It will be different people," Mukuro answered back. Everyone looked at her curiously, as that wasn't the answer they were expecting from her.

"Who do you wish to bring exactly with you?" Kyoko questioned, extremely curious about who Mukuro meant.

"Any other Future Foundation member, worker, and so on. Anyone from the Future Foundation organization besides all of you, that wants to go with me to Towa City to help me save your loved ones," Mukuro answered. Everyone else looked at Mukuro with uncertainty, wondering if this was really the best plan. "I won't let any of you get involved anymore then I already have. I absolutely refuse. So please… please let me do this. I need to do this, not only for all of you, but for myself as well,"

Everyone remained silent, thinking over what she just said. After some time had passed, Makoto decided to speak up.

"If this is what you truly want Mukuro, then alright. I support you in your decision. Just please be safe," Makoto said softly, as Mukuro nodded to him, feeling her stoic face feel a bit softer, just from hearing those words from Makoto. Then again, hearing Makoto always speak in such a way about her, made her feel that way.

"I will," Mukuro said, with a very subtle smile, she showed to him.

"Make sure to contact Headquarters here during your mission at Towa City, if anything happens or if there is something that you need to inform any of us," Kyoko reminded, as Mukuro turned to face the lavender haired girl and nodded in agreement with her. "I think it's time we move onto the next topic. Chihiro, you said you wanted to show us all something, today right?"

The young petite man nodded, as he briefly left the room, then came back holding a suitcase, and sat back at his chair on the table. He opened the suitcase up, and everyone stared curiously at what was inside it.

"You wanted to show us all... a megaphone?" Leon asked, really confused by what he was seeing.

"Do you have anything more you want to announce, this time really loudly, besides the whole you're actually not a girl, and a guy who dressed up as a girl when we were at Hope's Peak Academy?" Hifumi asked comically and confused as well.

"It's not a normal megaphone," Chihiro answered back calmly.

"What makes it not normal Chihiro?" Sayaka asked with curiosity.

"Well before I can explain that, I need to explain something else first. First, I need to explain how all the Monokumas are programmed from a software program that… Junko apparently took from me," Chihiro said slowly, still feeling bad about that.

"It isn't your fault Chihiro. It's not your fault at all," Asahina said, trying to make the gentle boy feel better.

"Indeed. Don't trouble yourself with guilt. The blame falls onto Junko," Sakura calmly stated. Chihiro hearing this, felt better and nodded towards them, as he then continued speaking.

"So, I was thinking of a way to fight against the Monokumas. Since I know their software program, inside and out, I thought of a way to defeat them. And this device is a way to fight back against them besides just normal fighting or weapons," Chihiro explained.

"Do you scream at a Monokuma with it, till it blows up or something?" Hiro said, still confused by what he was seeing.

"Nope. Despite it looking like a regular megaphone, it's actually what I call, the Megaphone Hacking Gun," Chihiro explained.

"A Megaphone Hacking Gun?" Taka, stated feeling somewhat confused of what he was hearing and seeing.

"Yep. Basically, it can fire programming codes in an electromagnetic wave, allowing it to hack into the target's mechanisms from a distance. Depending on the type of programming code fired, it can have a different effect on Monokumas." Chihiro explained. "Like I can show an example of what I mean. Does anyone have an electronic on them, they're willing to get rid of?"

Everyone looked around till everyone's eyes fell on Makoto. He took off his digital watch and handed it to Chihiro. Chihiro then placed it on the middle of the table in the room, and then took hold of the Megaphone Hacking Gun.

"I'm really sorry Makoto. I'll make sure to get you a new one later," Chihiro said feeling bad for his friend.

"Don't worry. I can get a new one," Makoto said to reassure him. Chihiro nodded to Makoto and the next thing he did was fired what appeared to be a blue electrical sphere of energy at the digital watch. Before they knew it, the watch blew up and broke into pieces.

"Holy shit!" Mondo shouted, seeing the watch just blow up like that.

"That was crazy! Something straight out of the future or something!" Hifumi praised as everyone was surprised by what they saw.

"It also affects electronics in general besides Monokumas, which makes it pretty versatile," Kyoko deduced, as what she saw demonstrated just that.

"I suppose appearances can be deceiving. In this case, a megaphone being a deadly weapon," Celeste praised as well.

"And that was just one of the types of electromagnetic wave bullet. It has seven other types of electromagnetic wave bullets I also developed as well. Some of them being combat related like the one you just saw, and some of the others for other purposes," Chihiro explained excited and happily. "The blue bullet you all just saw being used are what I call, break bullets which cause targets to want to self-destruct and break themselves,"

"What are the other types then?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well there are also yellow paralyze bullets which causes the electronics to electrocute itself instead of just breaking. It be pretty useful if a bunch of Monokuma were standing in water for example and you hit one of them. One shock bullet, more than one Monokuma destroyed. Another type are red burn bullets which cause anything hit by it to overexert itself, overheat, and ultimately catch on fire," Chihiro explained. "It also has cyan knockback bullets, which cause any Monokuma hit by it to be knock back. Like their AI will tell themselves to fling themselves backwards,"

"Huh. Go figure," Hiro said as he as he imagined a knockback bullet hitting a Monokuma with a bottomless pit behind it, being flung into oblivion.

"Another is to cause a Monokuma to start dancing with pink dance bullets," Chihiro said kind of embarrassed.

"Why does your hacking gun have something like that as a bullet?" Celeste said, feeling a bit confused by what she just heard.

"It was one of the first electromagnetic wave bullets I programmed, just to see if it would work. I kind of kept it because I think it could serve as a good distraction in certain situation maybe," Chihiro explained. "Another is the green move bullets which I made as another early example as well as a test. I kept them in, because maybe there will be situations one needs to activate electronics or electrical devices, which move bullets do,"

"Like if the light switch was off, and you shot a move bullet at it, it turns the lights on?" Leon asked.

"Exactly. And the final bullet I made so far, are the rainbow link bullets. Those bullets allow you to direct Monokumas and make them move where you want to go," Chihiro explained.

"This gun sounds extremely powerful and useful. Great job Chihiro," Makoto praised, to which Chihiro smiled at hearing.

"Does it have its limits?" Mukuro asked, concerned and curious.

"Sort of. Like how do I explain it… basically the Megaphone Hacking Gun requires energy whenever you make a shot with it, and depending on the kind of electromagnetic wave bullet you use, it can take more or less energy for what it is. Once all the energy is used up for a type of bullet, it needs to recharge over time. Some bullets recharge instantly though. Some can fire a lot more shots before having to recharge, and some can have few shots in general before needing a recharge," Chihiro answered.

"How does it recharge Chihiro?" Sayaka asked curiously.

"Well it's powered by a kinetic battery, so it uses motion energy. All someone needs to do is give it a lot of motion, like shaking it, to help it recharge," Chihiro said. "It's good for the environment as well!"

"Sounds perverted," Toko mumbled under her breath quietly, as she imagined someone shaking a Megaphone to recharge it.

"So, it ultimately never runs out of bullets," Mukuro said, pretty impressed by it. "Though personally I think I'll stick with the live ammunition and my personal knives. Very useful invention still,"

"Thanks," Chihiro said with a happy grin.

"How many do you have made Chihiro?" Hifumi asked. "If we have a ton of those Megaphone Hacking Guns, the Future Foundation could easily fight back against Monokumas easily in the future and we be set, at least for that!" Chihiro's happy grin turned into a pondering expression, as he thought over his choice of words, before answering Hifumi back.

"Well the thing is… this one right here is the only one so far I've made. It's more of a prototype then a final version. It still needs more field data and testing in general before I can start making more," Chihiro answered back.

"Towa City can also be used as a way to test this prototype out then," Byakuya noted, as Chihiro nodded back to him in agreement.

"If Towa City really has our loved ones being held there, then I wouldn't be surprised if Junko has her Monokumas there, if that's really where they are being held," Chihiro said.

"If that's the case, I'll take it with me to Towa City when I go in the future soon. I'll try to use it, along with my other weapons." Mukuro said. "Well I guess we should move onto the last topic, before this meeting is adjourned,"

"You said you had one more thing you wanted to discuss, right Mukuro?" Kyoko asked.

"Yes. Basically, while I'm at Towa City, I have to wear this," Mukuro said, as she took out what appeared to be a small yellow smiley face pin. Everyone looked confused why Mukuro would take something like that out.

"I don't get it. It's a smiley face pin?" Chihiro asked confused.

"I wouldn't have fucking expected her to pull that out, that's for sure," Mondo commented, as it seemed like something Mukuro would not have on her normally.

"While it does appear that way, it's not just that. It's a smiley face pin that is also doubling as a hidden camera," Mukuro explained. "I'm going to wear it on my being the entire time, when I head to Towa City. It has built in memory for recording and also serves as a live feed for headquarters here as well. Don't worry as it's not currently on and operational yet, as I didn't turn it on yet, so nobody has seen or heard anything from us, from this meeting,"

"But why do they want you to wear a camera?" Sayaka asked curiously.

"It's because they don't fully trust me," Mukuro answered bluntly. Everyone else remained silent upon hearing this from her. "It's their way of keeping track of me, as they think there's a chance I'll go rogue or I'm going too end up betraying them, or something along those lines. If they ever see anything that makes them think I'm on the side of despair again, I basically become their public enemy once again. I don't blame them. If I were in their position, I do the same,"

"But that's a total invasion of your privacy Mukuro! They should have more faith then that!" Asahina pointed out, feeling annoyed from what she was hearing.

"Plus you helped saved us all from being trapped in Hope's Peak Academy," Leon added.

"They still don't care and I really don't have a choice in the matter. Munakata and the other Future Foundation Division members won't let me go on this mission to Towa City unless I wear this pin camera on me, the whole time." Mukuro answered.

"Does that mean… you still have to wear it, even when you have to go to the bathroom?" Hifumi said, thinking perversely, with drool leaking out of his mouth.

" **PERVERTED PIG!** " Celeste yelled out, with a glare that sent Hifumi hiding under the table, like a coward, while everyone else just sighed or remained quiet, not sure how to comment from what they just heard and saw from both.

"Anyway… maybe you can make an appeal to Munakata and the others? Try to convince them that's not needed?" Taka suggested trying to get back on topic, while Hifumi got back up finally and sat back on his seat. "An appeal to authority might work,"

"I don't see Munakata as the type of person to easily change his decisions," Byakuya commented. "Same goes for the other Future Foundation Division Heads for the most part. I don't think that's something that's going to happen, at least anytime soon,"

"That guy and most of the other Future Foundation Division heads are stubborn damn donkeys. There's no way they'll let her not wear that camera pin!" Toko added.

"It's all fine. I just wanted to bring this up because Munakata told me to tell you all. I guess he wants to really make everyone aware that I'm someone that isn't to be… fully trusted," Mukuro answered.

"Well I disagree. I think you've earned that right," Makoto said with a friendly smile while Mukuro looked away from Makoto, feeling a bit flushed.

The meeting soon concluded as this was the last major topic. It seemed it was decided that they would let Mukuro go to Towa City, taking Future Foundation people besides them, and that she would also bring the prototype Megaphone Hacking Gun with her in the future, and have a smiley pin looking camera on her. As everyone was leaving the meeting room, Makoto and Mukuro were the last ones in there. As Mukuro was leaving, Makoto said something to her that stopped her.

"Mukuro. Just know that you're not alone. All of us here care about you. We wouldn't have tried to stop you from going alone if we didn't," Makoto said. Mukuro stopped, when he said this. She then turned around to face him, as he looked at her with very concerned eyes. "And please be safe Mukuro, when you leave in the future soon. I don't want you to be hurt anymore considering… you almost died back at Hope's Peak Academy,"

"I know Makoto… I know. Thank you and everyone else," Mukuro said quietly, in an acknowledging way. She then quietly walked out of the meeting room, closing the door to it, but not before looking back at Makoto. The room now only had Makoto in it as he sighed and looked around, feeling something within him grow towards her. He soon stood up, and began to walk out of the room as it was time he left this room.

* * *

Elsewhere we see a really dark room that barely had any lights in it at the moment, except oddly candles. It currently had five particular individuals in it, as all five of them were kids, that could easily be attending elementary school, due to their age. Four of the five individuals were standing aside each other, while the fifth was sitting in what appeared to be a wheelchair judging by their silhouettes.

It was too dark to see them proper, but if you squinted really hard, you could kind of make out their silhouettes and a tiny bit of detail to an extent, at least of their heads. One had red hair that was slightly spiky with white headphones on his head, another wore what appeared to be a brown mask on his head and over his face, another had pink pigtails and was wearing a horned hair accessory, and the fourth had short light blue hair that was done in cowlicks in the shape of cat ears. The one sitting in what appeared to be a wheelchair, apparently had green hair with a red ribbon tied on the top. At the moment, nothing else could be seen of them, as their general beings still couldn't be fully seen due to being shrouded by the darkness the room was in at the moment.

"So Big Sis Junko talked to me recently, everyone," said sweetly from the childlike female voice from, the green haired one in the wheelchair.

"Oh really!? Why didn't she call me! I'm the leader!" whined the red-haired child, who sounded like a sporty young boy.

"I bet she didn't want to call me because I'm ugly," the child wearing the brown mask who sounded like a boy, in a slow tone and voice.

"I wish she called me more. It be so totes, if we both got to talk about getting something sweet together! Like ice cream!" exclaimed the pink haired child who sounded like a young girl.

"It doesn't matter who she contacted. Big Sis Junko clearly got her message to us regardless," scolded the blue haired child, a young boy who sounded like he took things seriously.

"That's right. And what she told me was… that she expects a lot of nasty demons showing up soon for her special guests she has staying in Towa City," said the green haired girl in the wheelchair. "And I say we give them a big warm welcome, when they finally come."

"I agree! I suggest we do some demon hunting with them!" the red-haired boy exclaimed. "Whoever scores the lowest out of us here, buys everyone else soda!"

"I bet I'm going to be the one who ends up buying everyone soda…" the brown masked boy said in a self-depreciating way.

"It better be really sweet! And the really good kind of soda, made with actual sugar!" the pink haired girl added.

"Soda or not, we better take this seriously. I won't let any demons get in the way of what we're planning," the blue haired one reminded.

"Then it's decided. When they come by, we'll make sure to give them all a very warm welcome indeed," said the green haired one warmly. The one in the wheelchair began to giggle, and the other four soon began to laugh in their own ways, their laughter being the only thing that could be heard in their location, unknown at the moment. However once they all stopped laughing, one of them took the moment to say something.

"Now, can we finally turn the lights on? I know you wanted to try out the sweet-scented candles, but they smell like smoke that's from a candy factory and I still hate smoking!" whined the red-haired boy.

"No!" whined the pink haired girl back. "Not till all the candle wax is gone! I want to get the most out of them!" whined back the pink haired girl.

"But I'm the leader! And what I say goes!" whined the red-haired child, as both him and the pink haired girl continued to have their back and forth. It seemed that despite these five being childish, they had big plans for the future. Big plans that were soon about to begin.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **So how was that chapter? Notes as always.**

 **1\. Hiro wanting a novel written about him is referring to the light novel, Ultra Despair Hagakure, which is an unlockable light novel, that players of Danganronpa Another Episode receive, once they complete the main game. It's a light novel that's about Hiro's adventure in Towa City, that happen as the main game itself is happening. Seeing how this is an alternate universe to that, it's not exactly going to play out that way, but references and all.**

 **2\. The Monokumas were always built with the software that Chihiro made. In this universe, I thought it be fitting if he was the one who created the Megaphone Hacking Gun (which serves as the main weapon used by one of its two main protagonists of Danganronpa Another Episode as he would know what makes them tick, inside and out, so to speak to some extent). Also in this universe, there's only one so far, whereas they had more than one in the main universe**

 **3\. Of course, the five characters at the end will be familiar to anyone who played Danganronpa Another Episode and they'll be properly introduced eventually.** **There was some hints about how each of those five characters are like in general, though next note I'll give one in depth example of one.  
**

 **4\. The red haired one talking about how he dislikes smoke, is referencing one of his dislikes, which is of cigarettes which you can find out in his in-game profile in the game.**

 **5\. Toko is insanely in love with Byakuya, since Danganronpa 1. In Danganronpa If, Toko didn't have the chance to show off her love to Byakuya, so in this universe, it happened during the time after they were rescued by the Future Foundation. Also as a reference, Toko would constantly have fantasies involving Byakuya in Danganronpa Another Episode itself. However, Byakuya does not feel the same way.**

 **6\. So all of those Bullet types, are the types of bullets used in the actual game of Danganronpa Another Episode itself. Those are the eight main basic types that the Megaphone Hacking Gun can use.**

 **So that's it for chapter two. As usual if you have anything you want to say, point out, criticize, and so on, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. Looks like we're about to finally begin with Towa City itself soon! Till the next chapter!**


	3. The Towa City Riots Begin

**Chapter 3 is here! Before I move on, I'm going to address the reviews for the previous chapter before moving on.**

 **Davie232, I appreciate hearing that you have enjoyed the story so far. As for what you said in regards to Chisa, Mukuro, and Munakata, those are reasons I also agree with along with everything else.**

 **Luckenhaft, yes that was kind of the plan somewhat, involving those generic NPCs. Will it go exactly that way, later this chapter? Maybe, maybe not. Also another extremely humorous insight I enjoyed from you, this time regarding how Mukuro decided to get her classmates therapy, this time around. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it, and look forward to any future ones you make if you so desire.  
**

 **Zephyrius29, thank you for your comments. I definitely try to keep the characters in character as best as possible, along with the atmosphere as true to the game as well. As for whether Genocider Syo (or Genocide Jack as some might know her as) will appear, no promises as things in my personal plans for the story can always change.  
**

 **AwesomeOneDanny, I really appreciate you mentioning how my grammar could be better and with repetition. I agree wholeheartedly and I apologize as well.** **I'll definitely try to make that not as necessary with more prior readings as well now.** **I also have a personal habit to always go back to reading all of the chapters I've written in any story in general in succession, looking to make any fixes and changes in general. And yes, I definitely do think Makoto and Mukuro are a very cute pairing in general as well, and I'll try my best to develop their relationship as natural as possible, though this isn't a romance story between the two per say. It's a friendship and adventure story mainly with Komaru and Mukuro. Thanks for the words so far.  
**

 **I want to say thanks to everyone who had been reading my story so far, and offering their thoughts and criticisms. I hope I can keep it up. With that said, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter.**

* * *

Mukuro was staring out of a window inside a helicopter during the early morning. She was dressed in her normal Hope's Peak Academy clothes, as opposed to her more formal Future Foundation attire, as she felt it easier for herself to move around in due to being more flexible and more maneuverable for her. She also had two combat military knifes with her, (one that had a straight edge, and the other that had a serrated edge), and two knife sheathes on a black ammunition belt she wore around her uniform and skirt. She also had two holsters for two handguns, as well on the belt. They were fully loaded, and she had some additional stocks of ammo along the ammo belt. She also wore a yellow smiley faced pin, that was pinned on her white shirt, as it served as a camera, recording everything that was in front of her, which did look out of place on her. She also had her own personal Smartphone with her, for normal communication in general. Finally, she wielded the Megaphone Hacking Gun, as she wanted to test it out and just as a precaution. She had a strong feeling that a lot of Monokumas would appear. She was hoping not, but she had to be ready, just in case.

Besides Mukuro on the helicopter, were Future Foundation agents. They were all adults who were wearing black suits and black sunglasses, and had their own handguns with them as well. They all were looking at her with scrutiny, as some of them felt hesitant being on the same helicopter as her. Some felt fearful, some felt angry, and some felt confused why she was even a part of their organization, considering who she was. But they all were told by their higher ups, to keep a close eye on her, so with reluctance, they did as they were told.

She also had a small notepad with her, with a sharpened wooden pencil, where she prepared some notes, and would use to make notes if needed for herself. Mukuro decided to take it out and go over one of the notes she had. It had a list of the fourteen special ones, that were all connected to her respective classmates and overlooked it. She knew she had to save them all, one by one, and was determined to do so. The operation should be easy, as they were all supposedly held in the same apartment complex from what she knew. But when it came to anything involving Junko, things being easy and predictable was never guaranteed.

The helicopter she was in, along with some other helicopters nearby from the Future Foundation, were flying towards Towa City, which was a huge artificial man made island that was created by the Towa Group. Besides rescuing the loved ones, she would also have to look into the Towa Group as well whenever she got the chance. Soon they arrived, the helicopters landing at Towa City Park, which was a large children's playground and park. A nearby security camera installed on a building nearby, swiveled towards to face the helicopters. It seemed they were spotted by whoever was in control of the cameras, as the camera focused on the sight.

"Time to save them all," Mukuro said to everyone else with her, as she stepped out of the helicopter. She was determined for her resolve. For the sake of giving hope back to Makoto by doing such redemptive acts and to start giving Junko the despair she desired by ruining her plans, one by one. "Some of you follow me and the rest of you stay behind. Those who are following me, let's head to the coordinates, for where the prisoners are being held. Let's not waste any time,"

* * *

We now see what appears to be a two bedroom apartment with a sleepy teenager girl who was wearing a pink shirt and white shorts, lazily sleeping around under red blankets and resting her head on a soft cyan blue pillow on a bed with white sheets. She had short brown hair (that also had a ahoge, just like a certain lucky student), brown eyes, a chest that was well-endowed for someone her age as she was only fifteen years old, and finally she was actually about two inches taller than her older sibling. She was Komaru Naegi, and she was the younger and only sister of Makoto Naegi.

A digital alarm clock in the room began to ring, causing Komaru to wearily open her eyes slowly and rub them with her hands. She looked towards the alarm clock and sighed, getting both used to and tired of this routine. She calmly got up and turned it off, as she then headed to the bathroom in her apartment room and took a shower. She then changed into her more proper clothing, that she normally wore when not wearing her sleeping attire. It consisted of a white school uniform blouse (the uniform of St. Koa Girls Academy which was the school uniform she was given to wear during her captivity and one she would love to actually go to, one day) with short sleeves with a large blue neckline, a red tie, a blue skirt, and white shoes. She currently sat on a black couch in the room, and looked like she just wasn't in the mood to do anything.

"Another boring day of captivity, in this boring apartment complex," Komaru yawned to herself, as she laid down on a couch nearby. About a year and a half ago, she was kidnapped from her home, when a bunch of armed men with strange masks came into it. She was separated from the rest of her family, with their whereabouts unknown. She would normally be trying to pound on the door, trying to scream for her kidnappers to let her out but today she was just not in the mood, at least at the moment. "The most exciting thing that's happened so far today, was dreaming that the planet Earth turned into rock candy for some reason,"

Komaru groaned frustrated. It was about a year and a half ago she was kidnapped and had to deal with her current life and situation. It happened soon after a certain incident, which ended up changing the world. That incident being "The Tragedy," which everyone called it. It started as a violent student movement in Hope's Peak Academy, involving a terrible set of events, that led to one after another. The educational institution tried to cover up the incident, trying to act as if it never happened, but that only made things worse in the long run. The movement got so bad and violent, it spread all over the Earth as if it was some despair inducing disease somehow, leading to the world becoming extremely hostile, hard to survive, and full of despair. Komaru recalled how during this time period, several of her classmates went missing, and later on the school she went to, would receive a box filled with multiple fingers as if to answer their whereabouts. It was a painful memory, and it didn't help a friend of hers named Chieko also disappeared around that time as well, which brought even more despair to her at the time. This would soon lead to her being kidnapped shortly, after The Tragedy had occurred.

"I can't believe I got kidnapped by a bunch of weird… bear mask wearing people." Komaru said annoyed as she tried to replay the memory of that day in her mind, going over what basically happened in her head. She was in her home while her parents were out shopping as they wanted to get more supplies for their home, due to what was happening. She heard the doorbell to their home ring, and happened to answer the door thinking they were back. The next thing she knew, was that a bunch of people wearing half white and half black bear masks suddenly grabbed her, and then she found herself slowly knocked out when they used a napkin dowsed in a sleeping agent to cover her mouth. She was confused and scared by what was happening till she only saw darkness. She then eventually found herself waking up in this apartment and the rest was history. Komaru groaned again, her negative memory feeding her emotions to do what she made a daily routine since she was kidnapped. "Maybe I should go bang on the door as usual now. Maybe today's the day they'll finally let me out,"

Komaru got up and walked to the locked metal door (that had a hatch on the bottom, where they would slip her meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and looked determined at it. Raising her hands, she then began to bang against it angrily, and yelled in frustration.

"Let me out! Let me out of here right now! I said let me out! Hey! You can hear me, right!?" Komaru yelled angrily and repeatedly, as she banged her hands against it, desperate for the chance, that any of her kidnappers would change their minds and end up freeing her. After some time, it was clear no one was going to respond to her, Komaru stopped, not wanting to tire herself out completely. She walked back to the couch in the living room in her apartment area, and decided to pick up one of the magazines in the room, trying to entertain herself, despite reading this magazine more than once. They were somewhat nice enough to provide her with multiple different entertainment options, even if they did kidnap her and all, besides the new uniform. She hoped they would eventually provide some manga, as she loved reading manga and had grown more and more bored of her options in her prison. For now she settled for rereading a fashion magazine that was about a really popular fashionista.

"I just want to see mom… dad… and Makoto again," Komaru said to herself quietly, feeling a small amount of despair settling into her, from yet another failed attempt for someone to come open the door locking her in this prison and freeing her. She loved her family so much, and desperately wanted to see them again. "I can only hope they're all safe right now, considering everything outside,"

Eventually she heard a bell ring, making her aware that it was now time for breakfast. She wearily got up and saw that they prepared a trey that had a plate of eggs, bacon, and sausage with a glass cup of milk on the side. She took the breakfast tray, and brought it to the wooden square table that was in the kitchen room area of her confines. Komaru ate quietly trying to not let her mood get her down. As soon as she finished, she was about to go back to reading when she heard an intense pounding suddenly, that was against the metal door from earlier.

"What?" Komaru said to herself surprised. Her eyes blinked, wondering if her ears were playing tricks on her. The intense pounding repeated again, and she heard it coming from the locked door that she had banged on earlier and got her tray of breakfast from. "Could it be!?"

Komaru ran towards the door with eager anticipation, figuring this might finally be the chance she needed to escape. She began to bang on it again, hoping whoever was on the other side would hear her, hoping this was her chance to finally be free.

"Whoever is out there, please you got to save me! I've been trapped here for over a year now, so please let me get out of this prison!" Komaru yelled out with intense emotion. However, what happened next, was as if she wished on a monkey's paw. Sharp metal claws, pierced through the metal door, to the side of Komaru's face, barely missing her, as her face paled immensely. She fell to the ground, and slowly backed away from what just happened. "What was that!?"

Soon the metal claws twisted, ripping the metal door apart till it was nothing more. Komaru's face soon turned into one of pure horror, as standing in front of her, was a Monokuma robot, which stared back at her with an excited grin, as it held its sharp claws out eagerly. With that sight, she let out a bloodcurdling scream, as she backed away more and more from the bear robot.

"What is this thing!? Is this… related to the people who kidnapped me!?" Komaru shouted, with confusion, as her face was stricken with fear. She noted that the robot bear she was looking at, resembled the same kind of mask, the people who kidnapped her wore. The Monokuma didn't respond as it slowly approached her with its metal claws out. It menacingly approached her, as if it was a cat playing with its prey.

Komaru soon began to run and got behind the table she ate at. This led to the Monokuma following her to pick up the pace, as it moved faster towards her. As soon as it closed in enough, she turned the corner of the table and ran, and headed down into the hallway she finally had access too.

"I got to get out of here now!" Komaru shouted as she kept running through the hallway, while the Monokuma that had entered her room, had eventually came out, and saw where she was. It began to run after her once again, while Komaru picked up the pace and soon saw an elevator down the hall. She ran towards it and began to press the button to call the elevator up as soon as possible, as she knew her life depended on it.

As if luck would have it, the elevator doors soon opened, though what she saw before her proved to be just as surprising. A freckled black-haired girl with her white school uniform who was wielding a megaphone, was also decked out in two handguns, an ammunition belt, and knives stood before her, and behind that person was adults wearing black sunglasses and black suits.

"Duck straight down, now!" Mukuro shouted out as Komaru complied, due to Mukuro's commanding tone. Mukuro then using the Megaphone Hacking Gun fired a blue break bullet towards the Monokuma that was chasing Komaru earlier and blow it up to bits. Komaru seeing this was pretty amazed, but she was still confused. Mukuro noted that it was indeed pretty useful. Still, just her knives alone were enough to deal with the Monokumas so she decided to ensure that Makoto's sister would be as safe as she could be. Mukuro then quickly went towards Komaru and helped her up, as both were standing and facing each other.

"I want two of you to accompany her back to the rescue helicopters that are located back at the Towa City Park behind the Pig Boy restaurant!" Mukuro ordered, as two of the Future Foundation agents behind her nodded in acknowledgement to what she asked. She then passed Komaru her Megaphone Hacking Gun, wanting her to be safer. "Use this to defend yourself if needed. After we're done rescuing everyone else that should be here, myself and the other Future Foundation agents will head back as soon as possible to meet up with you, and we'll all escape,"

"Wait… what is this megaphone thing I'm holding? Where are we? And what's Future Foundation?" Komaru asked not sure, still confused by what was happening and what she was hearing.

"I'm sorry but I don't have time to explain. Please get to the rescue helicopters safely," Mukuro stated, as she made sure Komaru got into the elevator with two Future Foundation agents who stayed with her, as she was one of the captives she wanted to save, and especially considering it was Makoto's sister. She wanted to make this operation as efficient, smooth, and handled as best as possible. "When we bring you back to headquarters, we'll explain everything as much as we can,"

Mukuro then hit the elevator doors to close as it soon started moving, while she turned and faced down the hallway that Komaru emerged from. Komaru was thankful that this girl and her agents saved them, but she felt bad leaving them behind as the elevator doors closed, as the elevator slowly started going down. More Monokumas since then had emerged in that hallway, ready to attack the Future Foundation agents, who all grew nervous or frustrated at the sight of the robotic bears. Mukuro took out one of her handguns, and one of her knives and struck a combat pose, as she was ready to fight. We now focus on Komaru who was questioning the two agents with her, wanting to know what was going on.

"Can you two explain what Future Foundation is? Also where we are? And what is this megaphone I'm holding exactly?" Komaru asked. Since the elevator would take some time before hitting the bottom floor, they decided to answer her.

"Future Foundation is basically an organization made to stop the effects that The Tragedy brought into this world as best as possible, and begin repairing it," one of the two agents explained.

"The Tragedy? You mean… how the student riots that started at Hope's Peak Academy, spread to the rest of the world?" Komaru asked.

"Basically," the other agent in the elevator answered her. "Now for your next question regarding where we are, we're in Towa City."

"Towa City?" Komaru asked back, as she never heard of the place at all.

"Towa City is one of the few areas that wasn't affected by The Tragedy… till today it seems," one of the two agents answered to her with frustration. "Towa City was being handled by Towa Group. Towa Group built this city and man made island originally and are a leading IT conglomerate,"

"Ever since the government stopped functioning, Towa Group has been handling everything here for the most part, trying their best to fight against The Tragedy. They have made technology to try to repair the world as best as possible, like a powerful air purifier that can clean massive quantities of air at once," the other agent continued to explain. "The Tragedy has made a lot of the planet uninhabitable due to air pollution, and Towa Group has played a significant role in repairing it. Also Towa City in general has suffered far less damage compared to everywhere else, also due to Towa Group's influence. Are you following me on this?"

"Yeah… I am. This is just… a lot to take in and all," Komaru responded back slowly, as she tried to comprehend and accept the information she heard. "I think I understand so far, the things you two have told me so far,"

"Good. Next, as for what you're wielding, right now you're holding the Megaphone Hacking Gun. It can basically fire electromagnetic bullets at Monokumas and electronics to affect them in some way, depending on the bullet," said the other agent.

"Alright," Komaru said, as she kind of got what they were getting at. "And by Monokumas, you mean all those bear robots, right?"

"Yes. Monokumas are those bear robots, and there's more than one of them. So please be on your guar- **GAAAAHHHH!** " The agent explaining suddenly got cut off (literally) as the doors to the elevator soon opened and a Monokuma stabbed the agent in the chest who was just explaining, now screaming in pain. Komaru shrieked in terror, while the other agent immediately rushed her out, as that Monokuma began to repeatedly stab that agent's body, letting blood pool out from underneath.

"Run! Just follow me!" the other remaining agent shouted out, as he ran, with Komaru following after him as they soon exited the apartment complex. Nearby was a restaurant that was called "Pig Boy," that had a sign with a mascot chef pig on it, while the area in general was filled with regular Monokumas attacking any adults nearby and people panicking and dying.

"Follow me into that restaurant. The back entrance to it, leads straight down a street to a park, where our rescue helicopters are located!" The Future Foundation agent with Komaru shouted out, as Komaru kept silent as she just followed after the agent, feeling as if he didn't do exactly as he said, she be the next one to be mauled to death by a Monokuma. As soon as they both entered it, a Monokuma which had been waiting in ambush, lunged at the agent, and began to claw at the agent mercilessly, killing him with no remorse. Komaru in terror, fell to the floor and crawled away as she went towards a corner. The whole restaurant was filled with Monokumas that were ripping and tearing any adult in the vicinity, as blood baths began to occur.

"This… this has to be a nightmare!" Komaru thought to herself, with tears going down her face. It was as if escaping her prison just brought her to hell instead. A hell filled with demonic robotic bears, hellbent on killing everyone it seemed. "Please let me wake up from this! Please let me be with mom, dad, and Makoto again!"

All of the Monokumas in the restaurant after having had enough, tearing through the human adult bodies that laid piled about, soon began to look around, searching for new prey. The one that had just killed the Future Foundation agent nearby, looked towards the corner that Komaru was hiding in. Komaru seeing this, gripped the Megaphone Hacking Gun, and her hands shook like crazy, trying to steady her aim, trying to emulate what she saw that black haired freckled girl did, as her tears blurred her vision, feeling afraid. The Monokuma leapt at her, and a blue bullet fired out, causing the Monokuma to explode and drew the attention of all the other Monokumas in the restaurant. While this started, a TV in the restaurant began to have breaking news about how riots were breaking out in Towa City from a newscaster, and how all citizens were advised to seek safety now.

* * *

Mukuro felt extremely annoyed. She and her team of Future Foundation agents that were with her, had searched the whole apartment complex and for some reason, she had found only one survivor who she had helped lead out earlier. Nothing but empty rooms and more regular Monokumas which they ended up taking out. Were the rest of them being held in different locations in Towa City? Did the rest of them manage to escape the apartment complex earlier somehow? She saw no sign that anything bad happened to them thankfully, yet she wasn't fully sure where any of them was still. She decided to call back headquarters as she took out her smartphone, and see what she should do next.

We go to the communications room in the Future Foundation Headquarters. Munakata was there watching the events play out from what the camera pin had showed so far. He didn't look pleased per say, but he had to admit that he did like that Mukuro did rescue one person so far. Tengan was beside him as the two was watching the situation unfold. The other Division Heads were off elsewhere as most of them were busy with their own business to take care of, or did not want to see the sight of Mukuro Ikusaba. The only ones who were with them in the room was the other members of Class 78, though Munakata did not really want them with them.

"Why are you all here spectating?" Munakata said, trying to not sound annoyed.

"We can ask you the same thing," Celeste pointed out. "You and the other Division Heads pushed for this pin camera on Mukuro, so you shouldn't be complaining,"

"She's right you know," Tengan pointed out, while Munakata just tried to remain serious and not get annoyed from what he just heard. He heard his phone soon ringing, as he knew Mukuro just called him.

"I've only found one of the captives that are connected to Class 78. Do you have any suggestions what I should do next?" Mukuro asked.

"Regroup with Naegi's sister. Perhaps she may know where the other hostages are being held." Munakata answered to her. "That's it for now,"

"Komaru…" Makoto quietly whispered to himself. He was glad that she was already found and safe. "I'll have to definitely thank Mukuro when she comes back from this mission,"

"Understood." Mukuro said, as she ended the call. Mukuro and the other Future Foundation agents with her soon exited the apartment complex, taking the same elevator down that Komaru did earlier. However when they got down there, they all saw a gravely sight. All the agents saw the corpse of one of their fellow men down and started to freak out.

"Fuck! I don't want to get killed like that guy!" one of the Future Foundation agents cried out in panic, as all of them grew tense, except Mukuro who tried to focus on the mission.

"Calm down or the Monokumas will get us all," Mukuro stated, as she tried to keep them all calm, despite them growing increasingly nervous. As soon as they all exited the apartment complex, a new intimidating sight was waiting for them all, which caused the other Future Foundation agents to lose their cool and Mukuro to grit her teeth. Many Monokumas that actually stood on all four of their legs (which for these types were similar to canines) like actual bears, were now staring at them and growled like actual animals. These were Beast Monokumas and they were far more bestial compared to the normal ones.

"Act fast and don't hesitate!" Mukuro yelled out as she immediately gripped both her knives on their handles tightly, as from what she knew these types were extremely fast and dangerous. The Future Foundation members immediately fired their weapons upon the Beast Monokumas, but the robotic bears were way faster compared to the normal ones, as they clawed and bit down all the Future Foundation agents with her, to Mukuro's chagrin as she parried and attacked back the Beast Monokuma nearby her with her knives, who were attacking her. One by one the agents that were with her fell, as they became meals to be torn apart by the Beast Monokumas, until Mukuro herself was left.

"No!" Mukuro shouted out frustrated. Normally Mukuro wouldn't have cared if anyone besides herself, and the people she cared about were hurt, but she couldn't help but feel this was going to be used against her in the long run, by the Future Foundation Division Heads, and she knew that would only bring her more frustration in the future. She was hoping nothing would go wrong. In a sense, she was glad to not have brought any of her fellow classmates along, considering what just happened. She now had to focus purely on surviving, as she used her knives, defended and took out any Beast Monokumas that were around her, as many intended to keep her occupied. Suddenly as if for reasons unknown, the remaining Beast Monokuma ran off, leaving her all alone. She wondered why till she noticed something that caught her attention nearby. A large TV screen on a nearby building depicted a very peculiar scene that might have been the reason why they left.

* * *

Komaru was breathing heavily, and trying to calm down in the restaurant she was in. She had managed to defeat all the Monokuma in the area with the Megaphone Hacking Gun. She was surprised by how well armed it was, as she fiddled around with it, while fighting those Monokumas, and discovered it had different types of bullets, when she ran out of the blue break bullets from before. Needless to say, she was absolutely puzzled when she managed to make some of the Monokumas attacking her start dancing, with one of the types.

"I have to get out of here! They said to go through the back entrance of this restaurant right?" Komaru said as she looked around, trying to find the back entrance. However she soon heard giggling erupt from the TV that was in the restaurant. She looked towards the television monitor in the room, as she nervously looked on. What she saw caused her to hold a hand over her mouth, and for her face to grow even more fearful.

The reporter who was reporting the news about what was happening was now dead, his body limp and faced down on the white table in front of him, with blood pooling underneath. She saw three kids enter, the scene. One of them had red spiky hair, wore a white headset, had blue eyes, a bandage on his face, wore a white tank top with a red symbol on the front and the number ten on its back, a red and black vertically striped shirt underneath, blue shorts, red and black socks and armbands, and white sneakers. One of the other kids wore a brown mask that looked like it was stitched together, he had gray eyes, wore a brown artist apron that had various sculpting tools on it, over a baggy brown dress shirt with a red tie, brown orange shorts, and white socks with brown shoes. Finally the last kid had long pink hair tied into pigtails at the end of her hair, pink eyes, a pink hairband with horns at the end that had a symbol of sorts on them, a frilled black white shirt with a black jacket and black skirt that both had pink frills, pink and white thigh high socks, and black boots with pink ends.

"What are they doing? Why are those kids there?" Komaru asked, confused and disturbed by the sight. The red haired kid and the brown masked one began to play with the dead newscaster's body, acting as if it's a zombie, while the pink haired girl pretended to be afraid. The two boys grabbed the newscaster dead body and proceeded to chase after the pink haired girl comically, and they didn't seem to mind it being dead at all. Eventually a blue haired boy walked into view, scolding the other three. He had sky blue eyes, who wore a light grey plaid jacket over a blue shirt, light grey plaid shorts, an orange brown scarf around his neck, and wore blue socks with white shoes.

"Didn't I tell you three, that this broadcast is important? This is the Warriors of Hope keynote address," the blue haired one reminded. The other three continued to mess around, not taking the situation seriously, as they continued to fool around while the blue haired kid still kept trying to reprimand the other three. This four eventually stopped when a fifth child sitting in a red wheelchair appeared in view, causing them to become quiet. She had short green hair tied with a red ribbon, green eyes, a knee length black dress with a red ribbon with a white cravat like attire near her neck, black knee long socks, and silver slippers. The green haired child then began to speak.

"Citizens of Towa City. Nice to meet you. We are the Warriors of Hope. We are the masters of Mr. Monokuma. This town… this dirty, lame, worthless, pathetic good for nothing town. It is on this site, that we decided to build a paradise of children, for children, by children! And therefore… all of you adults will no longer be needed. Also… to any outsiders not from Towa City, we don't want any of you to come to Towa City. If we find out anymore enter after today, we'll do some really mean things to some of our special guests we have here. Good bye!" the green haired girl, calmly announced on live television on that broadcast. The broadcast then shut off as the TV station went off the air, as the only thing that remained was a please stand by screen. Komaru's face froze from what she saw. It was so surreal, everything she was experiencing right now.

"Is this another crazy dream I'm having? Like the one I had earlier with the Earth being in the shape of rock candy from this morning?" Komaru whispered to herself at total disbelief. She then shook her head, trying to shake away whatever she was currently feeling. She had to keep going or else she would end up like all the dead adults in the restaurant. She looked around, trying to see where the back entrance was, now that she wasn't distracted by that broadcast. Komaru saw two double doors now that she saw, now that she was focused and ran towards it. She pushed through it, and saw that it led to a hallway with another set of double doors at the end. Komaru ran towards the new set of doors, opened them, and found herself back outside again, seeing a sight that made her feel somewhat relieved.

"There!" Komaru shouted out, as she saw a large children's park towards the end of the large street she was now on, where the rescue helicopter was supposed to be at. She begin to run as explosions began to rock the city, the blue sky began to turn red, and as Monokumas kept killing any adults nearby, as she ran and ran, trying to survive.

* * *

Mukuro from outside on the streets was watching the same broadcast taking this all in. She had mixed reactions on her face from watching the scene, as she wasn't sure how to react to it at all. Everyone back in the Future Foundations saw the same events play out from her camera pin as they saw the video broadcast she saw as well. Both Munakata and Tengan had pained expressions form on their faces, while the rest of Class 78 all had mixed reactions at what they just saw. Silence befell them all as none of the people in the room was sure how to react. Before anyone could comment, the video screen that depicted the footage from Mukuro's pin camera also cut out.

"What is this? Did she do something to the camera we asked her to wear?" Munakata asked frustrated, wondering if the connection being cut was due to Mukuro causing it to happen. "I bet this was her doing,"

"Hold on. You shouldn't say things like that till you have definitive proof," Kyoko pointed out, as Munakata looked towards her. "Why do you assume it's only her? Maybe the connection to all the Future Foundation agents got cut off, due to those five individuals we just saw. Someone should try contacting any of the other Future Foundation agents that were with her to make sure,"

"Hmmm… let's test what she said out then," Tengan suggested as he took out a cellphone he had. He tried calling any of the agents that went with Mukuro to Towa City. But as he called each one, he would receive no reception whatsoever. "I believe what she said, seems to be the case at the moment, Munakata,"

Munakata inwardly growled, feeling frustrated by what he just heard from Tengan, and from what he just heard broadcasted before. Everyone in the room just heard from the green haired child, that they basically took over Towa City with killer Monokuma robots, and that if they sent anymore Future Foundation agents, they would do "mean," things to their special guests there, and it was pretty obvious who they meant by special guests.

"Please be safe Mukuro… Komaru…" Makoto quietly whispered to himself, as he knew that the situation for them, just got a whole lot worse. We now go back to focus on Mukuro as she had a frustrated expression form on her face. She looked towards the restaurant and knew she had to head there and use its back entrance to make it to Towa City Park, to meet up with Komaru at the rescue helicopter. However the Beast Monokuma from before who had retreated, had now showed up again, as she gritted her teeth in frustration as they blocked where she had to go, and started attacking her again.

"Get out of my way!" Mukuro shouted, as she used her knives to fight back against the Beast Monokumas, tearing them to shreds one by one, as many attempted to attack her.

* * *

Komaru who had arrived at Towa City Park. She saw a terrifying sight as she saw a new type of Monokuma that were killing Future Foundation agents, that were fighting back against them as best as they could, with their handguns, as they were the beast types, which proved much more dangerous. Komaru noticed wrecked helicopters with the exception of one, as some of the Monokuma were attacking and trying to destroy them as well. She also saw and heard a very peculiar sight as well. Seeing what appeared to be a child wearing a white shirt, with a green vest, gray pants, green socks and white shoes and the child was singing, and doing so while sitting on a nearby metal jungle gym. What was peculiar about the child was two things. One that they were wearing something over their entire heads which appeared to be metal helmets that had a Monokuma design. The second thing, was the song that the child was singing, included lyrics about wanting to kill adults, make corpses, and involved Monokumas.

"Over here! Get on the helicopter now!" yelled out a Future Foundation agent who called to Komaru, and she snapped her attention to him. She ran towards him, as she ran frantically towards him, trying to avoid any Beast Monokuma in the area. Luckily for her (and unlikely for the Future Foundation agents), the Beast Monokumas were too focused on the Future Foundation agents in the area, trying to kill them instead of her at the moment. Komaru managed to make it right by the helicopter. "Were you being held as a captive here?"

"Yes! I'm Komaru Naegi! Please let me on now!" Komaru shouted out. Hearing that name, which was confirmed to be one of the confirmed hostages connected to Class 78, he immediately opened the helicopter door and let her in, but just as he did that, a Beast Monokuma tackled him, and began to maul him to bits. Komaru's face paled even more, and she immediately grabbed the helicopter door from the inside, and soon closed it, securing herself in the helicopter. She then heard a sudden noise, causing her to look towards the front of the helicopter. What she saw made her feel like she was done for.

A normal Monokuma robot had killed the pilot and now suddenly grabbed the controls. Before she could say or do anything, the Monokuma brought the helicopter into the air with the helicopter's piloting stick, as the bear robot laughed sadistically and in malicious glee, making her fall onto the floor in the vehicle.

" **NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WAAAAAIIIIIIIIT!** Komaru screamed out, as it took off in full speed now. She screamed due to being stuck in the helicopter with this Monokuma, and for the fact that black haired freckled girl she saw, and her agents weren't back yet, concerned still for them. Sweat dripped on her face as she stared out the window now, seeing how high she was in the sky and then back towards the Monokuma, piloting the vehicle. The Monokuma then suddenly pulled the piloting stick, out of the vehicle and began to laugh even more maniacally. Soon the helicopter begin to spin out of control, all while Komaru was screaming in pure terror, as if this was some sort of twisted execution, as it was falling back towards somewhere in the city. She screamed and screamed as it fell and closed her eyes, wishing she wake up back with the rest of her family safe and sound.

The helicopter soon hit the ground hard, glass shattering and smoke starting to erupt from it. Somehow, someway, she had managed to get extremely lucky and survive, as Komaru found herself crawling out the wrecked helicopter, feeling extremely exhausted. She had crawled a good distance away from the vehicle, feeling sweat on her whole body now, and extreme tiredness in general. Soon the helicopter itself actually exploded, causing her to close her eyes, just in case any debris would fall into them. After the explosion's sounds died down, she opened them again, only to be greeted with the sight of a Monokuma right in front of her. She could barely move and speak, as her whole body felt as if it was at its limit. Then Monokumas began to fall from the sky, leaping from nearby buildings, surrounding her. As Komaru saw this, she soon collapsed and passed out, as her eyes closed and she fell, as her body couldn't take anymore. More and more Monokuma dropped around Komaru, as it seemed they weren't going to attack her now for some reason.

* * *

Mukuro had arrived at the park, seeing the remains of the Future Foundation agents that were stationed there as well as the wrecked remains of the helicopters except oddly one, which seemed to have made it out. Her face felt frustrated by what she saw, as the situation continued to grow worse. She then heard one agent, coughing up blood, and barely breathing as she ran up to him.

"Try to stay alive. I'm going to try to find medical supplies now," Mukuro said. However the agent stopped her with his following words.

"Stop. I'm not… going to make… it. Please… listen carefully." the Future Foundation agent breathed out, as Mukuro listened very intently to him. "Remaining helicopter… took off… with Komaru… Naegi. But… it crashed… somewhere… in… Towa City,"

With that said, the breaths of the Future Foundation agent ceased, as the agent finally passed away, as he passed his message to Mukuro before dying. Mukuro's eyes widened as her face became extremely concerned, as she quickly looked around. In a faraway distance, in a different part of the city, she saw smoke bellowing into the sky. She immediately ran. She wouldn't let any of the hostages connected to her classmates die, especially not the one connected to Makoto. She refused to bring despair to him, the one she cared so much about, and wanted to bring hope to. Mukuro immediately ran towards the direction of the smoke, hoping to find Komaru safe.

* * *

A certain young man was walking without a care to the world, with a big grin as he was heading to the Towa City TV station. He was walking down the street as people around him ran past him, being chased by Monokumas. For some reason he was just really lucky at the moment, they didn't focus on him. He was currently wearing a long sleeved black jacket, with a dark red and olive long sleeved green shirt under it, black jean with black low heeled shoes, that had red shoe laces, and finally oddly enough, a gray and red striped mitten over his left hand (for reasons that could be different from what's expected). He had short white hair that looked somehow off, grayish green eyes, and pale skin. He was Nagito Komaeda. A very particular individual for many reasons, that won't be delved into at the moment.

"I wonder if those Warriors of Hope can truly live up to their namesake," Nagito calmly said to himself and to no one else in particular, as he walked towards the Towa City TV station, while people were dying and panicking all around him, as he was hoping to meet the Warriors of Hope after catching their broadcast. "I'm rather excited to see how the recent change of events here in this city, will all play out,"

Nagito kept walking towards his destination, without a care in the world, yet something about the individual seemed extremely troubling, to anyone who saw him, as they ran past him. Either way, it looked like Towa City was finally joining the rest of the world, in the hell it was experiencing, as these were the beginning of the riots in Towa City.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **So how was it? Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. Nagito wearing the mitten in the original universe is due to a certain chain of events, due to Junko no longer being physically alive in it and Nagito replacing his left hand with one of Junko's hands for his own personal reasons. In the Danganronpa IF universe, Junko is still currently alive, so the reasons for Nagito wearing the mitten is different and will eventually be revealed in a future chapter soon (CH5 to be exact).**

 **2\. So the events of this chapter happened a little differently from the original Another Episode, but was similar nonetheless. Like how Komaru was narrating herself during the prologue of Another Episode (about her life so far, the Earth being the shape of rock candy, etc) but isn't presented exactly the same in this version.  
**

 **3\. When Mukuro and Komaru meet in the apartment complex, that would be where Komaru meets Byakuya instead in the original Another Episode, who would then give her the Megaphone Hacking Gun.**

 **4\. St. Koa Academy is mentioned when you find the "The Bomb Inside Her 1" book during Chapter 1 of Ultra Despair Girls. The uniform that Komaru wears in Another Episode was actually given to her, from the ones who captured her.  
**

 **5\. Komaru meets a injured Future Foundation agent in the Pig Boy restaurant in the game. While this doesn't happen here, Mukuro meeting the dying Future Foundation agent at Towa Park is suppose to kind of parallel that.  
**

 **6\. Speaking of parallels, Mukuro fighting with both her military knives, is kind of suppose to mirror Genocide Jack/Genocider Syo fighting with her scissors.**

 **7\. Many of Junko's followers wear Monokuma masks. Not all of them, but a lot of the normal ones tend to do. However there is a distinction between them and the kids who wear the Monokuma helmets, especially if anyone has completed Danganronpa Another Episode, and is aware why.  
**

 **8\. The scene where the two Future Foundation agents explain things to Komaru in the elevator is suppose to parallel how three agents explain things to her outside of the helicopter in Towa City Park. At least this time the agents died in a way, where I'm not completely wondering why they didn't just go inside the helicopters to speak.**

 **9\. Another Episode introduces other types of Monokumas besides the regular ones (which also appear in that game) which serve as the enemies in this game. Beast Monokumas are one of the many other types that appear.**

 **Well that should be it for now. As usual, if you have anything you want to say, point out, criticize, etc, feel free to do so. Otherwise I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. Till the next chapter!**


	4. The Warriors of Hope

**So Chapter 4 is finally here! I will address the reviews from the previous chapter as well.**

 **So Zephyrius29, I definitely can't wait to get till Nagito and Mukuro encountering each other as that will be a thing of course, eventually. And heh, I guess Kidz Bop is trying to take over the world. I will try to twist things when I feel appropriate, and keep things the same when appropriate as I've said before. Thank you for the review.  
**

 **From the guest who mentioned Yuta... well I'm not saying anything yet so that is definitely a wait and see. But things will be differently mostly and how I handle Yuta... well we'll see when we get there. Yuta and Komaru eh? That's cute. And I'm sure Asahina would want her little bro making it back as well.  
**

 **Bahahahaha. Oh man. I don't think I'll ever tire of these Luckenhaft. I love how it ended with Komaru being evil and having her supposed "brother complex," and everything in general from that, on how they both met. I enjoyed what you wrote as usual. Especially how Mukuro was comparing herself with Komaru, the things the other classmates said, and everything. Thanks man.  
**

 **Knightspark, as for where Nagito is off to... we're going to see this chapter.**

 **From Fredfuchs86, I'll start with what you said about chapter 2. That is actually very true, how they wouldn't all be placed in Division 14, as some would either fit into other divisions better, or have special circumstances like Toko and Mukuro. Asahina was in a different division in the Danganronpa 3 anime after all. That is something I'll try to address in the end of the story if I can, or in a potential sequel if I end up doing one. No promises. As for your chapter 3 review, thank you for pointing our that mitten and glove mistake which I corrected by now, and Nagito didn't become their servant till they met him. He met them at some point in the game prior to Komaru meeting him most likely, I'm pretty sure. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. And yeah the game itself has some questionable moments, like the deal with the Future Foundation agents explaining things like that, while everything is going bad outside.**

 **So as usual I want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed, and everyone reading the story in general. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

We now see the five so called Warriors of Hope in that same news broadcasting room from before, a little earlier, just as they finished their news broadcast. They were all celebrating their news broadcast as each of them all held a soda can with cola. They were drinking and celebrating with glee, each for their own reasons for getting that news broadcast out. Suddenly they heard the door to the news broadcasting room opening, and the five turned to see who or what it was. A very peculiar looking person appeared to them all, as he calmly walked into their view.

"So, you five are the Warriors of Hope," Nagito stated in a manner of fact like way, with a calm smile that was expressed on his face.

"Hey! Who are you?" the red-haired child asked, straight to the point.

"You shouldn't be here! Especially when you are totally not adorbs!" the pink haired child added in an annoyed manner.

"Maybe I can make him my first point for myself, so I don't have to buy more soda for losing the game later…" the child wearing the brown mask pondered out loud.

"Do you have a death wish?" the blue haired boy asked, wondering why this person was approaching them still. "If you saw our broadcast, you surely must be aware we control all the Monokumas here."

"I just wandered into town recently. I was rather curious to see what this city was all about," Nagito calmly explained. "I guess you can say it's a rather unfortunate turn of events for me. Perhaps it was my luck that led me here?"

"Regardless of why you're here, that's irrelevant as we're soon going to remove you from here," the blue haired boy replied. "Time to order some Monokumas after- "

"Wait," the green haired girl suddenly said, causing the blue haired boy to stop, as he looked towards her. "I think we can make use of him as a servant,"

"What?" the blue haired one said back confused, while the other three members of the Warriors of Hope looked confused at each other, not sure what to say.

"Well now that you mention that… if you spare me and let me live, I can work as a servant for you five," Nagito suggested.

"But we already have Monokumas who serve us," the brown masked kid pointed out, confused and pondering about the suggestion he just heard.

"Yeah! Don't you know that automation is the way of the future or something?" the red haired boy added, as he took a long sip of soda from his can.

"Plus, the Monokumas are way more adorbs, at least compared to you!" the pink haired girl stated a matter of fact like. "But… if she wants a human servant…"

"Then a human servant we shall have then," the blue haired boy finished saying, for the pink haired girl.

"Yay!" the green haired girl cheered happily, while Nagito just smirked to himself, satisfied by what just happened.

"Why don't you start making yourself useful then servant?" the blue haired boy stated. "I have an assignment for you to start with, to see if you're capable,"

"And what would that be?" Nagito asked curiously. The blue haired child took out a tablet, as it had a app for viewing security camera footage. He carefully reviewed and looked it over before seeing something to give Nagito to do. It showed live camera feed footage that depicted a bunch of Monokumas surrounding a girl that was knocked out on a street in Towa City. "Bring that girl to our base of operations alive. Don't worry about the Monokumas, as I'll make sure they won't attack you,"

"If you're wondering where our base is, it's at…" the red-haired boy said, as he walked over to Nagito and whispered the location to him.

"I see. Alright then, I'll be off. I'll see you five there later," Nagito said, as he calmly walked out of the broadcasting room. The five in the room looked at each other, wondering about him.

"Can we really trust him?" the brown masked boy, questioned aloud. "He seems kind of… strange,"

"Wow. If you're the one saying he's strange out loud, then maybe you're onto something," the pink haired girl added, sounding surprised.

They all then looked toward the green haired girl in the wheelchair, and she simply smiled and nodded, as if to answer yes. They then left themselves, and headed back to their actual base of operations, awaiting to see if their new servant could really do as he said.

* * *

Komaru was still knocked out still as the Monokumas still surrounded her. She laid there on the street, while the Monokuma robots, made sure to not harm her, due to being ordered not to. The Monokumas themselves soon made a clearing as Nagito, arrived there.

"This girl… she's Makoto Naegi's younger sister. I wonder what hope I can raise from her?" Nagito pondered out loud. "Makoto Naegi… one of the many who escaped Hope's Peak Academy and also shares my same ultimate talent. I wonder indeed…"

Nagito grabbed the unconscious girl and carried her on his back, as he began to head off to where the Warriors of Hope's base of operations was. It seemed luck was on his side at the moment, as he made it to Komaru before anyone else.

* * *

Sometime later, Mukuro was getting close to the landing site where the supposed helicopter crashed, that she was told about from the dying Future Foundation agent. She ran through the streets of the city earlier, with both her knives drawn out, slashing at any Monokumas that got in her way, tearing them to shreds with her two blades, and using both her handguns to fire bullets to take any down as well. She ran, barely letting up, as being extremely physically fit helped her run with ease, during her time, training with Fenrir. She soon finally made it to the street where she saw the smoke bellowing from afar earlier, and saw the wrecked footage of the helicopter yet no sign of any bodies oddly enough. She was thankful she didn't see Komaru's dead corpse at all, but her actual location at the moment was a mystery to be solved as well.

"Where is she? Please don't tell me she's… no I can't think like that. Komaru has to be alive, I'm sure of it," Mukuro pondered, as she shook away such negative thoughts. She looked around and tried to see if there was a way she could try to find where Komaru could be at the moment. "If I was in a helicopter, and it crashed and I survived somehow, where would I go?"

Mukuro tried to picture and imagine what Komaru would do if she had managed to get out of the wreckage from a helicopter. There would a high chance she be wounded or at least injured in some way. "Maybe… go to one of the hospitals in Towa City?"

The more she thought about it, the more that seemed like something someone would do if they did survive a helicopter crash possibly.

"It's a start I suppose. I better start looking for the hospitals in this area," Mukuro said to herself as she took out her smartphone and tried to see if she could bring up her map application she had on it. However, she then realized that her cellphone had no signal now for some reason, as she had no bars whatsoever appear. "Is my signal being jammed?"

Mukuro sighed. It seemed she would have to do this the old school way, as she decided instead to look for a regular map of the area instead. Hopefully it wouldn't be too difficult, but considering how the whole city was now basically a death trap involving those Monokumas, she had to be cautious. She ran off once again, beginning her search of what she needed, before she could start looking into the hospitals in this city. She was going to look for a normal map that covered the whole city. She also noticed that she was running low on ammo, as she used up a lot of her handgun bullets earlier, when she wasn't fighting with her knives against the Monokumas.

"I should try to restock on ammunition while I'm here as well. Hopefully there's a store for guns and ammunition in this city, and if there is, the Monokumas's didn't get to it yet," Mukuro said to herself quietly. She ran down the street she was in, dodging robot Monokumas in her way, or taking down any with her knives and handguns. She eventually stopped as she found what appeared to be a gun shop in a district that hadn't yet been attacked by Monokumas. The gun shop was called, "Untouchable Kendo," and had a pale green neon sign above saying it's name. She walked into it, only to be greeted by a rather hostile sight. An old man wearing a white shirt with red suspenders, and blue jeans with a belt that had green grenades attached to it, holding a shotgun and pointing it towards the front of the store, behind his table counter, which had various weapons and ammunition of different types. He was the gun shop owner of this store.

"Don't shoot! I'm a human!" Mukuro shouted out to her chagrin. This wasn't a zombie apocalypse or anything, so for her to be mistaken for a Monokuma robot was something she found really annoying. The gun shop owner, lowered his weapon upon hearing that and saw that it was just a teenager girl.

"Oh! Sorry about that girly," the gun shop owner said, while Mukuro rolled her eyes at being called girly, considering the current situation. "I thought you were one of those Monokuma robots those crazy kids sent out, killing everybody,"

"I'm not," Mukuro stated bluntly, trying to not get more annoyed. "Anyway, I was wondering if you're willing to lend any handgun ammunition?"

Hearing this, the gun shop owner stopped to take a good look at Mukuro and noted she was wearing an ammunition belt along with having two knives and handguns on her being.

"You some sort of soldier or something? You look kind of young to be having this kind of stuff on you. Then again, with what's happening outside, maybe that's for the best," the gun shop owner, questioned. "Anyway, let me see what kind of handguns you have, so I know exactly what you need."

Mukuro walked up to the glass counter and placed both her handguns on and the middle-aged man examined them. After a small bit of time passed, he gave the handguns back to her.

"Alright. I know what brand is right for you. Red Wing branded handgun bullets." as he took out a small red box that was branded with a hawk that contained 9mm rounds. Mukuro was about to reach for it, but he pulled it away from her. "This city may have joined the rest of the world in Hell, but I'm not just about going to give away any of my bullets for free, because of that,"

"How much do you want? I work for a big organization. I'm sure my employers can reimburse you in some way," Mukuro stated. However, the gun shop owner shook his head.

"I don't want money. I have a favor instead to ask," the gun shop owner asked. Mukuro blinked her eyes, not sure if she had time for this. She wanted to go find a map, then go search the hospitals for Komaru, and while she did want to restock on ammunition, this might take up too much time from her.

"I don't know. I'm kind of in a rush. I'm looking for a map of the city, so I can search for hospitals in the area," Mukuro replied. The gun shop owner's eyes lit up upon hearing that.

"What a coincidence! My favor actually involves the Towa City Hospital in this city!" the gun shop owner exclaimed, while Mukuro grew curious. "Tell you what, if you decide to do this favor for me, I'll make you a map of Towa City to begin with, and I'll give you more handgun ammo besides this one box. I'll give you a lot more."

"Alright, I'm listening. What is your favor exactly?" Mukuro asked back deciding to hear him out.

"I want you to see if my relative in Towa Hospital is safe and sound. My sixteen year old granddaughter. She was working there recently as a receptionist for a part time job. If you find her, then please bring her back here." the gun shop owner said, as he took out a small photo that depicted a young teenager girl who looked to be about sixteen as he claimed. "That's all. I'll prepare you a map when you leave for it, and if you come back with my relative, I'll give you the handgun ammunition you need,"

Mukuro thought this over. It seemed like the best course of action at the moment. She would get a map of Towa City, and be able to start searching the hospital in it for Komaru, and possibly get more handgun ammunition out of it.

"Alright. You have yourself a deal. Make the map right now and I'll head over there right now and get this done." Mukuro replied.

"Hold on little girly. I still need to prepare and actually make the map for you, and that will be ready by tomorrow morning. Till then you can stay in one of the backrooms." The gun shop owner said. Mukuro however frowned upon hearing that.

"I didn't know this would take that much time. If that's the case, then the deal's off. I'll get a map by myself somewhere else and look for ammo elsewhere," Mukuro replied. She couldn't afford time, as she wanted to make sure Komaru was as safe as she can be, as soon as possible. She turned around and was about to leave, but seeing this, the gun shop owner ducked under his desk and pressed a button under his desk counter. A metal security gate dropped in front of the door, preventing her from leaving. "Two things. The first is let me out, and the second is you should have had this gate down before if you didn't want anyone in, since you pointed a shotgun at me when I first entered this gun shop,"

"I didn't have it down before, because I wanted to see if I could get anyone to help me for what I just asked you, or if my relative would come in. Also, I'm afraid I can't let you leave. I need to make sure my relative is safe no matter what, so please check on her," the gun shop owner asked. Mukuro gritted her teeth, as she took out one of her handguns and pointed it at him. "I'm sorry. But listen. You won't know how to get to Towa City's hospital without a map, and you'll be lost in this city, which will hurt you in the long run. I need to draw up a map for you though and I've been living here since this city was built so I know the layout."

Mukuro put her handgun away and sighed, seeing how he had some really good points. The gun shop owner sighed in relief upon seeing this.

"Thank you. The back of the store has multiple rooms. You can stay in one of them and rest. I'll be drawing up a map of Towa City in the meantime," the gun shop owner replied. He then walked up to her and handed him a photo he had, which depicted a young woman. Mukuro stayed silent as she went to the back. She found an empty room that had a worn bed with faded blankets and a pillow.

"Makoto… I won't disappoint you. I refuse," Mukuro quietly spoke to herself, as she decided to rest upon the bed, as she would have to wait until the next morning before continuing her search. Her eyes soon closed as she fell to sleep, as the events of today took their toll on her and she found herself sleeping, hoping that things would turn out alright, as she would embark next morning, continuing her search for Komaru.

* * *

"Hey… can you hear me? Are you okay? Hey… are you listening?" asked an unfamiliar voice. Komaru slowly felt her eyes waking up as her eyes slowly awakened. She slowly began to move around slowly, as she felt her being awaken, and she slowly took in her current surroundings. She was on a bed, on top its red blankets, which was on top of a gray steel metal floor, and there was an electronic door nearby, with a green light on a panel with a wire connected to the side of it. She also saw what appeared to be a white present box with a green ribbon tied on top of it near the door. She also saw a peculiar individual who drew the most attention from her. Two things about his attire stood out a lot. The first was him wearing a metal collar around his neck, that was attached to a broken metal chain, and him wearing a mitten over his left hand, oddly enough.

"Who… who are you?" Komaru asked, feeling nervous. The other person in the room, was Nagito, as he looked towards her with a smile that made her feel concerned about her situation at the moment.

"Me? Oh, my name's not really important. After all… I'm just a lowly servant," Nagito replied, as he smiled now towards her. "I had heard this town would be safe, so I came here to seek refuge. But then the riots… and I also get captured by them. I got no luck whatsoever. But because I pleaded with my life, they allowed me to live, as their servant,"

Komaru could only stare back blankly at the so called servant, as she had no clue who he meant exactly by them. Seeing this, Nagito decided to change the subject.

"I'm being rude, enough about me. Let's talk about you. Either you're completely exhausted, or you are simply afraid to wake up and face reality. You were asleep since yesterday," Nagito said to her.

"Since… yesterday!?" Komaru shouted back surprised, that she was knocked out that long.

"Indeed. The world since then has changed. Like a water painting left out in the rain... ah, but you're more concerned about yourself then the world right now, correct? You're wondering what's going to happen to you, now that you're trapped here, in this place," Nagito said.

"What's going to happen to me… here?" Komaru questioned, still wondering what was going on. Nagito only sighed, which caused Komaru to feel confused.

"My apologies. Your reaction was so… normal. It surprised me a bit. Ahah… you honestly don't have a single unique characteristic about you," Nagito responded, while Komaru felt unsure of what to say or feel, from hearing him say that about her. "Well no need to feel bad about it. This world is filled with unremarkable people, and the only ones capable of emphasizing with common boring people… is a common boring person like yourself. So that's why… you pass,"

"What are you even talking about?" Komaru questioned, feeling even more confused than before. Nagito however ignored her questioning, as he continued talking.

"Well that's just my own opinion. It doesn't matter to them at all. That's why I need you to take a proper test," Nagito answered, while Komaru blinked her eyes rapidly, wondering what he meant by proper test. "But before that, let me return this to you,"

Nagito walked up to Komaru, and from within his large jacket, took out the Megaphone Hacking Gun she had before on her.

"The Hacking Gun!?" Komaru exclaimed, as he handed it back to her.

"I borrowed it without your permission. Sorry but I had to analyze its capabilities. It's an amazing little machine. A device that can forcibly hack other machines by shooting program codes with electromagnetism. However it was a bit too… powerful. I made some modifications. For story reading… sorry I meant to say game balance purposes," Nagito said. "But don't worry, you'll have moments to upgrade it back to how it was before, in the future,"

"Game… balance?" Komaru said wondering if she was in a video game or something, and this was all a dream. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"I understand how you feel, but it's about time you started the test," Nagito replied back. "If you can safely make it to where everyone is waiting, you pass,"

"Everyone? Who's everyone?" Komaru asked while Nagito just smirked to her in response, before responding.

"You'll meet them when you get there. However when you do, make sure to keep that gun of yours a secret from them," Nagito warned. He walked to the door in the room and said the following before he left. "If you don't want to die that is. I'll be going on up ahead,"

With that, Nagito left and the metal door to the room shut and a locking sound could be heard, and the light that was green on the panel connected to the door turned red. Komaru blinked her eyes at what just happened and pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. She winced as she realized she was now fully awake. Komaru stood up and walked to the metal door, trying to get it open.

"Not again," Komaru whined, as being trapped was getting old for her. She looked towards the present box in the room. "Maybe that has the key to get out?"

Komaru walked over to it and opened it, seeing what appeared to be a small SD Card, with the Japanese characters for the word "Move," inscribed on it with green ink, and a post it note attached to it. She picked it up and noticed the note showed a little picture that showed that the back of the Megaphone Hacking Gun, had a little hatch to open it.

"Is that what he meant by game balance? Well I should get this back into it," Komaru spoke to herself, as she noticed the Hacking Gun had a little hatch on the back of it due to the note. She flipped it open and saw eight slots for SD cards, one already being filled. "He must have removed the other seven. Is this the game balance he was talking about? Before I had all those different types of bullets, but now I'm only back to these two,"

She placed the SD card into one of the eight slots, and now noticed she could switch between two types of bullets. She looked at the panel with the red light and decided to try it out. Switching over to the green move bullets, she took aim and fired one at it, causing the light to go back to green like before. The door soon unlocked itself and opened.

"It worked… yet I'm scared to leave this room." Komaru said. She felt the feeling of fear rise up again within her. She shook her head. If she didn't press on, like she did before, she never escape from this whole situation. She slowly walked out of the room, gripping onto the Hacking Gun with dear life. She soon found herself in a hallway with black and white floor tiles, and black metal walls.

"I can do this… I can do this," Komaru said as she continued on. She walked down the hallway and turned the corner to the right. She saw a Monokuma down the hall, not looking towards her direction and gulped. "Alright… you can do this Komaru,"

With one last gulp, she fired a blue break bullet at the Monokuma, blowing it to pieces as it didn't know it had it coming. Komaru decided to run, as she continued on till she made it to an area with multiple paths. All but one of them was locked off with a metal security gate. As soon as she entered, the pathway behind her had a security gate fell, blocking the way she came.

"I only have one path to go now. Is this the way?" Komaru spoke to herself nervously. The only open path she took led up to a staircase and Komaru soon found herself in front of two huge white and black doors. Something about it seemed very ominous about it. But it seemed like she really didn't have a choice considering that the door was the only way for her to keep moving, considering all her other paths were now blocked. She attached her Megaphone Hacking Gun to her skirt on the back. She slowly approached and opened the doors, and entered inside, to find herself in a huge room with tiled flooring, glass windows to the left that depicted a red sky, and three doors on different heights to the right, as she walked more into the room and saw some familiar faces.

"Wait… you five were the ones on the television broadcast!?" Komaru spoke out, as she remembered seeing these five before on the TV broadcast. The five turned to face her with smirks as they saw her.

"Well if it isn't miss sleepy head! Do you want my autograph?" the red-haired boy said with a big confident smirk.

"I want to chisel an autograph onto her back," the boy with the brown mask over his face said, as he took out one of his tools and stared at it with an obsessive degree.

"Don't mind him. He's a latchkey kid, which is why he's a bit mental. Would you like a snack? I could go for something sweet. But never anything salty! Those disgusting things are never worth putting into your mouth!" the pink haired girl said with emotion. The blue haired child remained quiet, only deciding to just observe Komaru. Then the fifth child who was in a wheelchair who wheeled herself closer to her decided to say something.

"Big sis Komaru Naegi is finally awake! Yay!" the green haired child cheered. Komaru was surprised she had actually run into these five in person. Yet again, she met people who knew who she was, yet she didn't know them herself.

"Who… who are you all?" Komaru asked, wondering who these children were and who exactly she was dealing with.

"We're the Warriors of Hope. The ones who will punish all the demons in Towa City. But I suppose more proper introductions are in order," the blue haired one stated calmly.

"If that's the case I want to go first, since I'm the leader!" the red-haired child shouted with excitement. "I'm Masaru Daimon! You can also call me Little Ultimate PE and the Hero! I can turn laps in gym with no problem and am going to be king of this town eventually!"

"I'll go next. I am the Sage of the Warriors of Hope and can be considered its vice leader. I also have the title of Little Ultimate Social Studies and I excel in academics in general. I'm Nagisa Shingetsu," the blue haired boy calmly stated.

"I'm going before Jataro goes, since he'll take forever! I'm the Fighter of the Warriors of Hope, and I'm Little Ultimate Drama though that's irrelevant! I'm Kotoko Utsugi! I love cute stuff and peeled chestnuts! Yet I hate unpeeled chestnuts! Isn't that like so weird? Aren't I so adorbs? Kyaaaa!" the pink haired girl boasted eagerly.

"Ummm… I'm the umm… Little Ultimate Artist. Though I don't think that really means much. I'm really good at arts and crafts… oh and Jataro is my first name, and Kemuri is my last name. Oh… and I'm also… the Warriors of Hope's Priest. I also wonder if aliens exist…" the brown masked boy answered back in a slow tone of voice and speech.

"Moving on. Now it's time for Monaca to introduce herself," Nagisa stated calmly and without hesitation, as he didn't want Jataro to keep rambling on.

"Monaca is Little Ultimate Homeroom. Monaca is also the Mage of the Warriors of Hope. Everyone loves Monaca and everyone loves to help Monaca!" The green haired girl said, referring to herself in the third person.

Komaru was taking this in, as she heard everything they said. Her mind began to race itself with more questions once again, wondering about a certain thing. Little Ultimates? Ultimate was a title used for students who were part of Hope's Peak Academy. These five were just kids, so they couldn't have been part of the main high school.

"Did Hope's Peak have an elementary school?" Komaru questioned out loud.

"It did indeed have an elementary school division. Typical of an adult to be ignorant," Nagisa stated, not surprised by what he heard. "No let me correct myself… a demon to be ignorant."

"It's a good thing we're going to hunt her down, like all the other demons!" Masaru shouted with brashness. Komaru's eyes widened from what they heard.

"I'm going to be hunted down?" Komaru said with sweat dripping down her face.

"Yep. We're going to turn you into bloody chopped meat and make you a point for one of us for our game of Demon Hunting!" Jataro added, as he giggled menacingly with that comment he just said.

"Demon Hunting is so much fun! Like Jataro said we're going to make you and every other demon, points for us!" Kotoko added. "And when we're done, we're going to make this town a paradise for kids only!"

"Wait... what!?" Komaru said with her eyes widening from what she just heard.

"Our Monokumas obey all our orders, so we're the ones in control here," Nagisa added. "And we're going to continue what we're doing, just as we said we would do, on that live broadcast from the past,"

"Stop!" Komaru shouted out. She now knew that more than ever, she had to escape as soon as possible. "Please stop!"

"Not till the game is properly over," Nagisa replied. "Though honestly… I rather not play and focus on our paradise project instead,"

"Then why are you playing it!?" Komaru shouted out, wanting this madness to stop.

"Because Monaca wishes for it, and whatever she wishes, I will make sure to grant," Nagisa answered calmly.

"Yeah! Plus it sounds really fun right now, anyway!" Masaru added.

"She's our princess, and what the princess wants, she gets," Jataro added.

"So you better play!" Kotoko threatened with a pouty expression.

"No! I don't want to play this at all!" Komaru shouted out, afraid for her life.

"Oh? Why not?" Monaca asked, as she tilted her head in confusion. "Especially after our servant gives you a special present, which is part of the game,"

"Present? What are you talk-" But before she could say anymore, she suddenly felt someone from behind her, snap a black wristband onto her left wrist. Komaru turned around, and saw the so-called servant she met earlier, now in the room with them as well, as he was the one who snapped it onto her.

"A specially made wristband given to the Targets of the game. I suggest you don't try to remove it. Unless you're willing to see it go… boom," Nagito calmly explained with his eyes closed, and a smile on his face, as if the object he just placed on her wasn't life threatening whatsoever.

"Boom!?" Komaru yelled out, now reaching critical mass in terms of fear.

"Indeed. Like a balloon filled with too much air or water, bursting due to excess, or a fiery explosion blowing up a building to take everyone and everything down within it. In your case, it will be more like the latter, where you will be consumed in flames if you tamper with it," Nagito explained. All five Warriors of Hope at this point had noticed that Komaru had what appeared to be a megaphone on her back when she turned to face Nagito. They blinked and thought it was odd she be carrying something like that on her, but decided to ignore it, as they heard her speak.

"Tamper with it!?" Komaru replied, as she begun to breathe heavily, trying to calm down, turned around to face the Warriors of Hope with even more sweat dripping down her face.

"If you try to remove that device bracelet on you, that basically be cheating!" Masaru responded with annoyance.

"And we definitely don't like cheaters," Kotoko added with a sinister smile.

"And if you try to cheat on our watch…" Nagisa threatened with a serious expression.

"You'll go boom, boom, boom!" Jataro finished for Nagisa with an excited expression.

"Like really pretty fireworks!" Monaca added as she giggled in delight, while Komaru looked like she was ready to just die then and there.

"Why are you all doing this? This is cruel and it doesn't make any sense, at all!" Komaru asked. "I haven't done anything to any of you!"

"Because it'll be fun. I think you would have liked to do this when you were our age," Monaca added.

"Fun? Killing innocent people is fun? That still makes no sense! They haven't wronged you at all!" Komaru answered back, bewildered and scared of what she was hearing. Monaca's face finally turned pouty when she heard this.

" **IT DOESN'T HAVE TO MAKE SENSE! IF MONACA WANTS IT, THEN MONACA WANTS IT!"** Monaca whined out loudly, as she flailed her arms wildly as she began her temper tantrum, shaking her wheelchair beneath her. This caused the four other Warriors of Hope to panic as they all immediately surrounded her, trying to calm her down.

"Whoa! This is bad! It'll be alright Monaca!" Masaru said with a scared expression, afraid of Monaca whenever she was like this.

"If Monaca wants it, then the sun is the moon, peanut butter is jelly, and the sky is green and grass is blue!" Jataro added with a worried look of his own.

"We'll make sure we kill as many of those demons as much as possible! We'll make sure our combined high scores go above the millions!" Kotoko said, trying to calm Monaca.

"Don't worry Monaca. We'll show this demon that anyone who goes against us, will learn that we are not to be trifled with," Nagisa calmly placated. "We'll show this demon here, that her and all the other demons will be exterminated. One by one,"

Hearing all four of her fellow Warriors of Hope speak to her like that, Monaca slowly calmed down, as her facial expression, slowly went back to how it was before. She then smiled, and closed her eyes.

"I feel better now after what you all said," Monaca commented feeling more calm compared to before, after Komaru made her feel upset earlier. "I'll have to bake cookies for all of you later,"

"Thank you… that's really nice of you Monaca," Nagisa said with a blush as he looked away, trying to not show his face.

"Yeah! Cookies fit for a leader! I'll take it!" Masaru shouted enthusiastically.

"Monaca's cookies are the best! The best sugary sweets ever!" Kotoko added.

"I bet mine will be filled with bugs," Jataro said quietly, saying something self-deprecating about himself.

"Now… let's finally begin the demon hunting game!" Monaca announced happily.

"No! I don't want to play this game!" Komaru shouted, feeling scared for her life. "This is all wrong! In so many ways!"

"Too bad! We're going to start! But before we do, let's give her the thing she needs to get back to the city," Masaru stated excitedly.

Before Komaru could question what they were going to be giving her, Nagito gave her a brown backpack that had a parachute inside it.

"I advise you wear this, if you wish for the game to continue, without it being over," Nagito whispered to her, as Komaru understood his implications clearly, that something bad would soon happen to her, unless she put this on quickly. "Good luck. You're going to need it,"

Nagito walked away while she stood afraid still. She reluctantly put the backpack on quickly, taking his advice. Just as she finished doing so, the floor below her fell, and she immediately fell, once again screaming for her dear life, just like when she was in the helicopter that crashed before. She fell and fell through a large hole in the floor she was on before, till she eventually reached the bottom and found herself out of it, now falling through the sky. Her parachute activated and it opened up, allowing Komaru to safely and slowly float on her way down back towards Towa City. She looked upwards and realized she was just in a huge airship before, that was floating above the city. Komaru's parachute descended and descended as she was heading down, as she would slowly land back, somewhere in the city.

Meanwhile the Warriors of Hope were all laughing loudly, at what just happened to Komaru, as she fell back to the city. They were all excited, and ready to start their demon hunting game soon.

"Alright. Let's start the demon hunting game!" Masaru said excitedly.

"Let's make this particular demon worth more points then usual, since it upset Monaca and us," Nagisa suggested.

"Then that means, when I catch it, I'll win this game for sure!" Kotoko stated with confidence.

"A game is different from real life... it means even I can win in it!" Jataro commented, starry eyed.

"You're feeling pretty pumped up Jataro. Too bad that makes you more gross then usual," Kotoko commented with rudeness.

"Well it doesn't matter! By the end of this game, I'm going to be the one who wins, since I'm the leader!" Masaru bragged.

"It doesn't matter who wins. Just make sure we don't fight against each other while we're doing this," Nagisa reminded. They all continued talking with each other while Monaca wheeled herself away from the other Warriors of Hope and began to talk quietly to herself.

"Ufufufu. And just like that, all the pieces are in place. All that's left now is to wait for the despair," Monaca quietly said to herself as she giggled at the thought. "I'm looking forward to it!"

Meanwhile Nagito spoke to himself quietly, as he was distanced away from the Warriors of Hope in the room. He had a contemplative expression as he spoke to himself, wondering how this would go.

"Alright... do your best... Miss Protagonist. With your lack of distinct characteristics. So common, so dull, so boring," Nagito said. He smiled, as he had a feeling his luck would hopefully give him, what he wanted out of all this.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **So that was the end of that chapter. Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. The gun shop that Mukuro goes into, references the airsoft shop in Persona 5 which is named Untouchable and the gun shop in Resident Evil 2 which is called Kendo. Untouchable Kendo being the name references both. Also the way the gun shop owner initially treats Mukuro is suppose to reference Claire Redfield meeting the owner of the Kendo gun shop in that game. I guess Danganronpa Another Episode the game, is kind of a survival horror in a way, at least for the characters involved trying to survive in it.  
**

 **2\. The 16 year old person mentioned by the gun shop owner is actually based on a note you can find in Chapter 2 of Another Episode in the subway, talking about how a 16 year old person doesn't want to die. Of course being an alternate universe, things can and will play out differently (like the contents of that note being significantly or slightly different if it were found), and also in this case, location for certain things and individuals, and how things go.  
**

 **3\. The ammo actually references the handgun ammo from Resident Evil 6, which are branded as Red Wing on the handgun ammo box.**

 **4\. Nagito actually breaks the 4th wall (kind of) in the actual game itself, by mentioning game balance, though in reality he was referring to the game, the Warriors of Hope was setting up. Story reading was something that was not in the original.**

 **That should be it for notes for now and it for this chapter. As usual if you have anything you want to say, comment, point out, criticize, and so on, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and the story so far, and till next time when Komaru and Mukuro should finally be meeting up properly! Till the next chapter!**


	5. Hospital Meet Up

**Chapter 5 is here! I'll address the reviews of the previous chapter before moving on.**

 **Blitz12 has asked a very good question and I'm going to be very blunt and to the point about it. Whoops. My bad. But thankfully being that this is an alternate universe, I thought of a new logical explanation for why Nagito is wearing the mitten which will be answered in this chapter. So thank you so much Blitz12 for pointing that out, I highly appreciate that.**

 **Oh god Luckenhaft. Evil Komaru is just sinister as all hell. Mad entertaining. Holy crap at the way she basically made all the Warriors of Hope her little chumps. She does not hold back at all. I like, I like. Also the interactions between Mukuro and Not Munehisa I found pretty amusing as well, as well as the banter between Nagito and Monaca and Izuru resurrecting Chiaki with the necromancer stuff. I forgot to say this a while back, but yeah the smiley face pin camera is indeed a reference to Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. I enjoyed your writings as usual, the Ultra Despair Soldier Girl.**

 **So thanks again, and as usual want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed, and everyone who has been reading the story in general. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

All of the Warriors of Hope with the exceptions of Masaru (as he wanted to get a head start on demon hunting and score points right away) and Monaca (who told the others she was going to take some alone time to herself) were in the room where Komaru fell from earlier, shortly afterwards. They had all decided to make more use out of their new human servant, and had asked him to get them each a glass of cola, before each of them would head off on their own. Nagito soon entered the room, holding a tray that had three glasses filled with ice cubes and cola in them, each with a white straw.

"A cola for each of you, as you all requested," Nagito answered. They each took a soda, though one of them decided to comment about something about their new servant, as he finally grew curious enough to ask.

"Hey umm… why are you wearing a mitten on your left hand? You've had it on since we met you and all," Jataro asked curiously, as he took a glass of cola and began sipping it.

"Do you want to find out?" Nagito said simply in response, with a smile.

"He wouldn't have asked, if he wasn't curious about the answer, so of course he wants to find out!" Kotoko said as she took one of the colas and began sipping it as well.

"All right then. Just know that I was wearing it for a reason," Nagito said calmly, as he placed the metal tray down, and slowly removed his mitten on his left hand. When it was fully off, the hand was severely red and swollen as if it was stung by multiple bees, wasps, and/or hornets.

" **EWWW!** That looks gross! I bet that's how Jataro's face looks like under the mask!" Kotoko said with a disgusted expression. "Put your mitten back on! Put it back on!"

"I bet that's how my face does look under the mask… probably," Jataro said self-depreciatingly, while Nagito put his mitten back on his left hand.

"How did that happen to your left hand? You should honestly get some anti swelling cream as the very knowledge of your left hand being like that, makes me want to regurgitate," Nagisa said with a revolted annoyed expression on his face, as he took a sip from his own cola.

"Let's just say it involved a bee hive and some bad luck of mine recently," Nagito stated without a care in the world. "As for getting some sort of ointment for it, I just simply haven't had the chance, since I was so focused on getting to this city recently, not caring for anything else. I'm the type of person who's great at enduring pain and misfortune,"

"Well no servant of ours is going to have such a gross left hand! Let's order the Monokumas to get him some anti swelling cream and an ice bag!" Kotoko said.

"Isn't that surprising. I didn't know you kids cared about adults," Nagito said out loud.

"We don't… I think," Jataro said in a thinking like manner, as he looked as if was trying to pose like the famous thinker statue.

"We don't want your disgusting hand touching stuff that will be served to us, even with you wearing a mitten over it." Nagisa said as he walked away, looking for a Monokuma to get an ice bag and ointment for his left hand. "Consider this another moment of mercy from your masters besides sparing you,"

"Why of course… I'm just a simple servant after all," Nagito said out loud, though there was clearly more to himself that he was letting on to those three in the room.

* * *

We go back to earlier to the morning of that very same day. Mukuro woke up, as her eyes slowly blinked and awakened. She got up slowly from the bed in one of the backrooms of the gun shop store, as she stretched, making sure she was fully physically prepared. She exited the room she was in and walked back to the front of the store. She saw the gun shop owner she had met yesterday, now holding what appeared to be a rolled-up map with one hand, and a small black drawstring backpack with his other one, that he was ready to hand to her.

"Alright. Just like I promised, here's a map of Towa City," the gun shop owner said as he handed it over to her. "I used to be an architect who drew up blueprints, so don't worry about this being badly drawn or anything. I retired only recently and wanted to make a shop like this for my gun passion I always had,"

Mukuro remained quiet as she took the map from the person and simply nodded, as she then opened it up and took a look at it. It looked like a tourist map except with the outlines and names, and was drawn in a clean and smooth way. Satisfied she refolded it up, as the gun shop owner then handed her the small black drawstring backpack.

"You're going to need a place to carry your map whenever you're not using it, so have this backpack as well," the gun shop owner said, as Mukuro put the map into the backpack. "Good luck girly,"

The gun shop owner opened the security gate and was carefully going over his shotgun, making sure it was reloaded and that he was ready for any threats while Mukuro simply sighed, as she left the shop and headed towards where the supposed hospital was. The sky was still red despite it being morning, the streets and surrounding area was starting to become damaged due to all the ensuring chaos, and dead adult bodies and Monokumas started to become abundant.

"It's just like when I was in Fenrir," Mukuro whispered to herself, thinking being on this kind of environment and situation was reminiscent of her days of serving the elite mercenary group. Towa City had essentially become a war zone, with fighting and destruction erupting everywhere. "Back then… all those years ago,"

Mukuro shook her head. This wasn't the time to get nostalgic, especially considering who she had to focus on saving, along with everyone else. She soon found herself running down a street, and seeing the hospital from afar, as she had been following the map the old shop keeper made for her.

"Looks like it's fairly accurate like he said it would be. I have two objectives over there at the hospital. The primary objective is to search for Komaru and the secondary objective is to find that guy's granddaughter to earn additional handgun bullets for myself," Mukuro said, as she took out her notepad and flipped to a blank page, and jotted those objectives down. Just as she finished writing her notes, she saw and heard a very peculiar sight from the sky, nearby the hospital. "What in the world?"

" **SOMEBODY SAVE ME!"** Komaru screamed wildly, as she was descending in the air with her parachute, towards the roof of the hospital. Mukuro blinked her eyes, wondering how Komaru even got into that situation, but then decided that didn't matter at the moment. She placed her notepad away, and immediately ran, heading towards the hospital.

* * *

Komaru closed her eyes and braced herself for impact as she eventually landed, and tumbled for a bit as she whined in pain. Eventually she stopped moving as her momentum eventually stopped. Her face cringed in pain, as she rubbed her head. She slowly removed the backpack and looked around, seeing her new surroundings.

"Where am I now?" Komaru said to herself, as she looked around. She noticed that she was on what appeared to be some sort of rooftop on some sort of building. "Still… I guess this is better than before,"

Komaru looked towards the sky and saw the huge airship from before, still high in the sky. She wondered how powerful the people she was dealing with, really were. How did these kids even take over? How did they get control of the Monokumas? How did they get that airship? She sighed, feeling annoyed by the situation.

"How can today get any worse?" Komaru whined out loud. As soon as she finished saying that, she heard robotic like sounds approaching. "Huh?"

She looked around, trying to see the source of that sound she was hearing. Around the rooftop were metal fences that were set in place that would prevent anyone from jumping off, and committing suicide. The sounds of something mechanical approached all sides and she was starting to sweat, feeling nervous. She soon gasped as she saw what the cause of those mechanical sounds was. It was the Monokumas once again climbing up some of the fences that surrounded the rooftop. Her face paled, as she quickly took out the Hacking Gun but realized there were way too many Monokumas for her to reasonably handle, at least she felt that way. She quickly looked around, and saw the center of the roof had doors that would lead into the building she was on. She quickly ran towards them as the Monokumas that were behind her, but just before she could get to them, the doors opened themselves, and she saw the black haired freckled girl that rescued her from before recently, emerge from them.

"Duck straight down… again!" Mukuro ordered out, as Komaru did just that, surprised to see her again, as Mukuro fired multiple shots from her two handguns. She took out the Monokumas that were chasing behind after Komaru with well placed shots, but cursed as she had finally run out of handgun bullets. She drew out her knives and ran nearby Komaru in a defensive stance while the remaining Monokumas either ran away or stayed, from seeing Mukuro do that. Out of the ones that stayed, only three Monokumas remained standing aside each other with their metal claws drawn out, as the other ones retreated. Komaru was thankful to her again, yet a bit intimidated by this person as well, seeing how skilled in combat she was as well. "Use the Hacking Gun!"

"Ri-right!" Komaru said, as she felt this person encouraging her, made her feel a bit more confident. She stood up and steadying her hands, she fired a break bullet at the Monokuma that was in the middle between the other two, causing it to explode and black smoke to appear. Using that opportunity, Mukuro quickly dashed and using both her knives, stabbed the two other Monokumas, with both her arms. She pulled the knives out of them, as they recoiled from being stabbed, and then slashed through them with no mercy. That was that, as both robot Monokumas fell over and soon blew up, as Mukuro took her knives, and slid them back into their sheathes.

"Are you alright? Komaru?" Mukuro asked, as she walked over to Komaru, who was still amazed by what happened. Komaru slowly nodded back to her, causing Mukuro to sigh in relief. "That's good. Well we should head inside now,"

"Wait!" Komaru suddenly said, catching Mukuro off guard. "What is this building we're on? How did you get here? And, who are you exactly? You're not dressed like the other Future Foundation agents at all."

"We're currently on the rooftop of a hospital. I got here due to having a map of Towa City. As for my attire, I chose to dress like this for personal reasons. Better to fight in this compared to a suit for me," Mukuro calmly explained. "Also my name… it's Mukuro Ikusaba,"

"Mukuro… Mukuro Ikusaba," Komaru said quietly taking the girl's name in. She then smiled and extended her hand towards Mukuro, while the black haired girl felt awkward at the gesture. "Well nice to meet you!"

"Yeah… nice to meet you," Mukuro said awkwardly as she tried to extend a hand towards her, feeling unsure if she was doing it right. She cared about Komaru in the sense that she was one of the hostages connected to her classmates, and that she was Makoto's sister. But other than that, she wasn't really a social butterfly at all normally with a majority of people. Even her classmates from Class 78, though out of everyone else in the world, they came the closest to being people she cared about, though two in particular she truly cared about, at least compared to the rest of the class. Makoto and Junko (who were both part of Class 78) as of right now, were the people she actually personally cared about the most so far in her life. The love of her life she wanted to bring hope too and was a part of Future Foundation, and Junko who was her sister and the true Ultimate Despair, still out there somewhere in the world, with her despair related plans.

"No problem! I hope we get along Mukuro! And thank you for trying to save me from those Monokumas before," Komaru said happily, as Komaru shook Mukuro's hand. This was something Mukuro was definitely going to have to get used too, as she awkwardly shook her hand back. While Komaru shook Mukuro's hand, she noticed that Komaru was now wearing a black wristband that had the red flame eye symbol the Monokumas had.

"What is that wristband you're wearing?" Mukuro asked, as she pointed it out. Komaru then looked at the black wristband she wore on her left wrist and sighed.

"Those kids from the TV broadcasts, the ones calling themselves the Warriors of Hope put this on me," Komaru answered, as she held out her left hand and arm, which showed the black wristband. "They said if I tampered with it… it would explode,"

Mukuro gritted her teeth from hearing that. More complications arose more and more throughout this whole incident so far, while she sighed frustrated. Komaru however noticed something while she shook Mukuro's hand from earlier that she wanted to point out. She had a tattoo of a wolf on her right hand.

"Hey Mukuro, do you like wolves?" Komaru asked while Mukuro blinked her eyes for a bit, before realizing she was talking about her tattoo. "You have a tattoo of a wolf on your right hand,"

"Yeah… they're cool," Mukuro answered, though she wasn't sure telling Komaru about her past at Fenrir was needed at the moment, as she left that part out as she took a bit to answer her.

"Aren't they? Maybe one day I'll get a husky puppy. My brother and I had a dog when we were younger. He was such a good boy," Komaru said with a big grin. Mukuro grew curious, as she never knew Makoto had a pet dog when he was younger and was about to say something, wanting to ask about that. She shook her head, realizing this wasn't the time for that. Wanting to change the subject she decided to talk about the wristband Komaru had again.

"Anyway... about your wristband, maybe back at Future Foundation Headquarters we can find a way to deactivate it safely," Mukuro said, as Komaru looked like she felt a lot better from what she just heard from Mukuro. "Let me try contacting them again. Maybe I can reach them now, hopefully,"

Mukuro took out her smartphone and tried calling. But to no avail, she still received no signal like before.

"The signal is still being blocked by those so called Warriors of Hope, from outside this city," Mukuro stated out loud while she looked around. She then took out her notepad, and flipped to the page with the list of hostages. She placed a check next to Komaru's name, as she finally managed to somewhat secure her safely. She then flipped the page to the one where she wrote about her two objectives earlier. As Mukuro did this, Komaru decided to take the moment to comment about something else about her that stood out.

"Why are you wearing a smiley face pin? You don't seem the type to be… smiling normally no offense," Komaru questioned with curiosity. Mukuro's face turned stoic, while Komaru's facial expression expressed a bit of fear and regret, wondering if that was something she should've asked about. Then she thought of a response that she thought was acceptable, despite it not being the actual reason.

"It reminds me… of the first person who ever gave me a smile," Mukuro answered quietly with an extremely small subtle smile of her own, as she thought of Makoto, as Komaru was now extremely curiously of who she was talking about. "Moving on… we've stood around here long enough, we should really get going,"

"Alright. But before we go... where we going exactly?" Komaru asked, just as Mukuro began walking away and stopped from hearing her say that. "Are we trying to escape from this city?"

"I'm not sure yet." Mukuro said, as Komaru looked at Mukuro confused. "Yesterday I ran into someone who I promise I do a favor for. If I do this favor, I can get more handgun ammo as a reward. So that's another reason while I'm at this hospital. Also… in general I'm here to still rescue people. So maybe not soon,"

"I… I see," Komaru said, not sure how to feel about what Mukuro answered to her, as while she understood Mukuro had other things to take care of her, she still wanted to get out of this city as soon as possible.

"Don't worry. I plan to get you out of here. I just have more than one objective to complete," Mukuro said. "Let's go,"

"Yeah… you're right. Thank you by the way," Komaru said back, while Mukuro looked towards her. "Thank you for saving me,"

"Don't think anything of it. It's my job at the moment," Mukuro replied. They both walked to the doors on the roof. Mukuro leaded, taking out her knives again, while Komaru followed holding the Megaphone Hacking Gun tightly. They soon walked down the staircase and made it to a hallway. The two noted the lights were now out, and it was nearly pitch black, though it was still somewhat seeable as their eyes adjusted. They were on the second floor of the hospital, with doors at the end closed off, and a nearby staircase that led down to the first floor with a metal shutter in front of it.

"I don't like this. It wasn't like this when I came up here," Mukuro commented, as they looked around, as the two looked around and saw that a metal shutter that blocked the entry to the lower floor present as well. "And that metal shutter wasn't there before as well,"

"Maybe the power got damaged by those Monokumas?" Komaru spoke curiously as they both walked around the dark hallway. They rounded the corner of it and went left, as they headed down towards it, and found themselves in front of a room that had "Power Supply Room," labeled over the door to it. They entered and saw they were in a large room with a power generator. They noticed that somebody or something broke off the switch to the power generators in the room, as it laid on the ground. "No! Now we can't get out of here!'

"Wait. Don't speak so soon," Mukuro said calmly. She then pointed towards the power panel in the room that had a red light on it. "The Megaphone Hacking Gun I gave you, should have a function for activating electronics,"

"Oh you're right! Let me switch to that," Komaru said as she switched the functions on the Hacking Gun to use move bullets. She took aim at the power panel, and fired a green move bullet towards it. When it connected, the red light turned green, and slowly but surely, all the lights went back on. "Good thing I still have this and the break bullets. Too bad I can't say the same for the other bullets."

"Wait… say that again? You only have the break and move bullets?" Mukuro asked confused and concerned, as she was pretty sure the Megaphone Hacking Gun had more than two types of bullets. "Aren't there other functions you have on it?"

"Well this is going to sound weird but… while I was captured by those kids, I met someone who was a servant for them and he basically took out most of its bullet types." Komaru explained while Mukuro stayed quiet, not sure what to make of what she was hearing. "He said he did it for the sake of game balance. But he also did basically give the Hacking Gun back its move function while I was there. He said I would have chances to upgrade it back to normal again,"

"Is that so?" Mukuro asked, wondering why this person would do such a thing. She thought about it, and she came to a conclusion that the Warriors of Hope probably put him up to it, considering everything else they've done. If only she knew that so called servant had his own agenda and that wasn't the case. "Well we have to make the most of what we have at the moment. Come on, let's get going out of this room,"

Komaru nodded, as both her and Mukuro left the current room, and were back in the hallway. What they saw down the corner, was a Monokuma that apparently had some fresh blood on it. Komaru looked pale again, with Mukuro noticing this. The Monokuma soon saw them, and seeing this, Mukuro drew out both her knives.

"I can handle this!" Komaru shouted, trying to sound brave but her voice sounded like it cracked for a bit, showing she wasn't feeling really confident at all. She soon fired a break bullet, and like every other Monokuma from before that hit one, blew up from it. Another one soon rounded the corner, and Komaru tried firing the Hacking Gun again, but noticed nothing was happening. Her face dripped sweat as the only sounds that emerged from the Hacking Gun was her pulling its trigger and the clicking sound that would emerge from that, as she tried desperately. Seeing this, the Monokouma charged forward at her, ready to attack her. But it seemed to have not paid attention to Mukuro as it was too focused on wanting to attack Komaru, as the black-haired soldier charged forward herself and with a powerful slash with one of her knives, as she decapitated the robot's head, causing it to go down.

"That was totally my bad! Sorry!" Komaru said, feeling bad about what just happened. Mukuro shook her head for a no.

"No that's fine. I should have told you how to recharge the Hacking Gun. While it recharges normally over time, it recharges faster with kinetic energy," Mukuro said. Komaru stared with a confused look at her, while Mukuro decided to just explain more, trying really hard not to roll her eyes. "Kinetic means related to motion. So basically, shake it to recharge it faster. Some bullet types recharge instantly though so that won't always be needed."

"Huh… so like this?" Komaru said, as she just shook it around for a bit, with Mukuro nodding back to her in response. "Well good to know I guess. Maybe you should be using the Hacking Gun since you seem to be more knowledgeable? I'll trade you the Hacking Gun for one of your handguns!"

"I don't think so," Mukuro replied with a sort of half amused and half is this girl serious, kind of expression and tone while Komaru sighed, sounding a bit disappointed. "You're way safer with a gun that essentially has infinite ammo, then one of my handguns,"

"Awww. Well how about this, if both of us make it out of this city alive, can you please teach me how to use one?" Komaru asked enthusiastically.

"No," Mukuro simply said, while the two decided to continue on with Komaru's face looking a bit disappointed. They took the lower staircase and made it to the first floor.

They looked around and saw a blue door in the first floor hallway on the right corner, and both went into it, as Mukuro wanted to investigate the hospital for the other person she was looking for. When they both went in, they both saw a surprising sight. It was a young boy and girl. The young boy was a child wearing a white shirt, with a green vest, gray pants, green socks and white shoes, and wore that same Monokuma Helmet that Komaru saw the other kid she saw the other day, was also wearing. The girl was wearing similar attire, though instead of a green vest, it was a green dress with a green skirt. In front of them was a white present box, with a green ribbon tied in front of it. They were known as Monokuma Kids.

"Tee hee," both the Monokuma Kids simply said. Hearing this, Mukuro just drew out her knives, and when Komaru saw this, she immediately went up behind Mukuro and restrained her, while the Monokuma Kids seeing this, were scared off as they left the room.

"Let go of me!" Mukuro shouted, while Komaru had a panicky expression form on her face.

" **WHOA!** Calm down! They're just kids Mukuro!" Komaru said, very surprised she had no qualms of attacking children. "They're gone anyway!"

Hearing this, Mukuro stopped struggling and grunted in frustration. Komaru carefully let go of her, as Mukuro went back to being calm while Komaru had an awkward expression form on her face, feeling intimidated by her.

"Did you not see them wearing the helmets that resemble the Monokumas?" Mukuro asked, trying hard to not sound irritated. "The same Monokumas that those Warriors of Hope are controlling and are trying to use to kill everybody? We're basically in a war zone, and in a war zone, child soldiers have always been a thing. I don't plan on failing my mission!"

"I… I know but, they're still children. Let's try not to hurt them okay?" Komaru said quietly, while Mukuro just sighed, deciding to go with Komaru's suggestion for now. "Let's just look into the present box they left behind,"

They both walked up to the present box, and Mukuro used one of her knives to remove the green ribbon. She cautiously opened it, and after removing the lid, they saw what appeared to be small boxes of raisins, small bottles of water, and boxes of band aids.

"Huh. They left us some food, water, and some form of medical aid. This will last a good while for us as well," Mukuro pondered out loud, wondering why they would do that. "Yet they're aligned with the Warriors of Hope who are clearly against any adults which we both are... sort of. This doesn't make any logical sense,"

"This doesn't make sense at all to me either but… we might as well take it, then let it go to waste," Komaru suggested wondering why they left those things for them. Mukuro nodded in agreement, as she put the contents into her backpack. The two left the room and continued exploring the hospital floor they were in. Both Komaru and Mukuro eventually found a trail of blood on the 1st floor that led to one of the rooms, and underneath a door into it. Mukuro seeing this held one of her knives, and used one of her legs to slam her foot to open the door, as she wanted to investigate. What she saw frustrated her deeply, while Komaru looked like she was ready to turn blue.

" **OH MY GOD!** " Komaru screamed out of horror at what she saw, while Mukuro closed the door behind them, just to be cautious. It was a girl around her age, who wore a name tag that had the title of receptionist on it. The blood that was all around her, covered her actual name on her name tag, as she was mauled all over her body. Nearby her body was a white note, that miraculously didn't get stained by her blood. Mukuro carefully looked around the room, making sure no one or nothing else was in it, before carefully walking over to the note. She took the note, scanned it over with her eyes, and slowly decided to read it out loud in a serious and clear manner.

"I don't get it, I don't want to die... I mean, I'm just sixteen, you know? I was going to see grandpa after work today and take him to his favorite restaurant to treat him to some of his favorite pork dishes, but here I am… dying. There's still a lot of things I want to do. There's still a lot of people I want to see before I die... No, I mean... those reasons shouldn't even matter. I don't want to die because I don't want to die. And it's obvious that everyone, including myself and my coworkers here in the hospital feels the same way." Mukuro said as she paused to take a moment to breathe for a bit, before she continued reading the note.

"But they died. They got killed. They got killed without a single pause, like it was automatic, like it was nothing. I want revenge. I want to do to them everything they did to my coworkers who were my friends here. I want to kill all those damn children like it was nothing. But I can't do that. I can't do anything... The only thing I can do is just hide. I'm just a coward. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Mukuro finished reading out seriously and quietly. Both Mukuro and Komaru remained silent, taking what the note said in.

While she did grew up her whole life, dealing with death in many, many forms, it was something that never really bothered her per say. Unlike Junko who she considered to be a much more complex individual in comparison to herself, she tended to accept things more straightforwardly. Every living thing at some point would die at some point. It was a natural part of life. Even when any of her comrades in Fenrir passed away, she was taught by the other surviving members to not feel for their deaths at all. She wasn't exactly the most emotional person in general, even before they lectured her on that, with some exceptions due to certain people or circumstances.

Komaru felt tears running down her face, from hearing the note that Mukuro read out loud. She was a very emotional person compared to Mukuro. It didn't help that her situation with being kidnapped from her home and everything since then had made her even more emotional in general.

"This person… she just wanted to see her grandfather after work one day and then… her life ended just like we see her now," Komaru said, with tears streaming down her face. Mukuro just remained quiet, as she took out her smartphone, and took a picture of the dead body, and then of the note with her smartphone. Komaru was surprised to see her do such actions, while Mukuro put the note away into the backpack she wore on her back. "Why… why did you just do that?"

"The person who asked me to go to this hospital… he wanted me to find his granddaughter who was working here as a receptionist. And… well we found her," Mukuro answered quietly, as both looked at the dead body. "He showed me a photo of her. So as soon as we entered this room… well you know the rest,"

"But why did you take a picture of her dead body and her note?" Komaru asked with confusion and tears going down still.

"Because I'm going to let him know what happened to his granddaughter. I might as well," Mukuro said. "Let's leave this room Komaru and get out of this hospital. We've been here long enough."

"Yeah… I guess so," Komaru said, drying her tears and slowly calming back done as she followed after Mukuro, both leaving the room. She did not want to be in the presence of that dead girl anymore, due to how emotional it made her feel. They soon eventually made it to the lobby and finally to the entrance outside, as they made it back to the streets. Komaru in particular was sighing with relief, though after looking around for a bit, she felt outside wasn't much better. She decided to ask a question that was on her mind.

"Hey Mukuro… how did you know my name anyway? How does Future Foundation know about me?" Komaru questioned. Mukuro closed her eyes as she carefully thought over what to say before responding to her when she opened them.

"Future Foundation has been fighting against the people involved, who are causing the despair in this world, in whatever ways we can besides trying to bring back hope to this world. Part of that has been rescuing people that they've imprisoned. You are one of those people. Simple as that," Mukuro answered.

"But… how did they find out about me being a prisoner in the first place and me being in this city?" Komaru asked. Mukuro was about to respond by saying that she knew due to being connected with the overall mastermind behind the world being the way it was right now but stopped, realizing she didn't want to say that. Komaru by this point was noticing that Mukuro took her time to answer her sometimes. It was something she noted mentally to herself as she waited for Mukuro to answer her back.

"Our intelligence gathering members of the Future Foundation, for those who are in the division related to that, finally learned of this city and the hostages it held," Mukuro answered. "Look Komaru. Enough questions, at least for now. I'm going to head back to the gun shop where I promised that man and see how it goes. Then after that I'll decide what to do next,"

"Alright. Well I'm still appreciative that you saved me Mukuro… so for that thanks," Komaru said with a friendly smile. "Let's go meet this guy and see how it goes,"

With that, Mukuro took out the map she had and looked at it, then put it back to her backpack, as she began walking back to the gun shop, she was in earlier in the day, with Komaru following after her.

* * *

We now see a separate unknown location in Towa City. We see what appears to be a silhouette of a teenager young man, who was wielding a pickaxe oddly enough, as he was currently bashing in a Monokuma's robotic body that tried to attack him but was now defunct, in an alleyway, as he was cursing up a storm, cursing the situation he was in. He finally stopped when he was satisfied with the robot's destruction.

"I got so fucking lucky, finding a pickaxe as a weapon in a tool shop, after I escaped that apartment full of those killer ass bears. How fucking appropriate!" the teenager who we couldn't see properly yet cursed to himself. On the pickaxe's handle, the words "Crazy Diamonds," was messily inscribed with black marker. "Fuck!? What the fuck is going on? First I got kidnapped a while back and now all this crazy bullshit? What the hell is wrong with all the kids, all of a sudden!? Gah! It be nice if I can also get a damn gun for those god damn bears! Hopefully I can fucking find one!"

The teenager cursed more like a sailor, with a mouth that would make a certain biker gang leader who was part of Future Foundation seem tame in comparison, as he decided to leave the alleyway, and keep going, moving around. It seemed that Towa City was filled with others, having their own episodes as well at the moment. Perhaps these episodes will intersect with each other at points.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **1\. That person at the very end should be familiar to anyone, who found a certain specific collectible in Danganronpa Another Episode. His "tool," of choice is also a reference in regards to something from Danganronpa 1.  
**

 **2\. That note they find is based off one you can find in Chapter 2 in Danganronpa Another Episode. It's not exactly the same, due to the different factors involved.  
**

 **3\. So as you may have noticed, the Monokuma Arcade Machine (which are used in rooms that have a challenge you can complete optionally usually, for a higher rank by the end of each chapter) that was in the hospital was not in this universe. Does that mean all the Monokuma Arcade Machines are gone? Not necessarily. But for the sake of things making more sense at times, they will not always appear. What that ratio of them corresponding with their original counterparts is another thing altogether.**

 **So that should be it for notes, as both Mukuro and Komaru have finally properly teamed up. As usual, if anyone, has anything they wish to say, point out, criticize, and so on, don't be afraid to do so. Also I want to say if you ever have any general questions about the story that you don't feel is review worthy, you can also private message me if you want. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and the story so far. Till next chapter!**


	6. Explosive Chase

**We are now at Chapter 6! As usual I will address the reviews before moving on.**

 **From FredFuchs86, in regards to the hostages, not exactly. How I handle each hostage may or may not be different in general from each other. That's something that will have to be seen on it's own for each one.**

 **From Luckenhaft, hahaha. Xander Mobus is indeed the person who voices Karou in Persona 5 and is also the P5 Main Character as well. And yes a swear off between Yukimura, Mondo, and Kuzuryu definitely be something. Junko and all her followers are drinking that despair hard, considering all that messed up stuff between them from what you wrote. Poor Apollo, getting bullied by Phoenix. Mukuro and Komaru up to their usual shenanigans as usual. I enjoyed it all.**

 **From version15, thank you for your comment. I always thought IF was interesting and it would be nice to see them officially follow up on it at some point (though not likely). As for all the hostages, that is the game plan, and is definitely a wait and see for each one eventually.**

 **So thanks again to everyone, as I still appreciate everyone who has reviewed, and is reading my story. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

We now reconvene on Class 78, as they were all back in the meeting room (since the previous day they were watching in the communications room with Munakata and Tengan the footage from the smiley pin camera) as they were discussing the current situation. Munakata and Tengan were busy elsewhere still trying to reestablish a signal with Towa City, desperate to try to reestablish a link with anyone with the Future Foundation in general over there.

"So, a bunch of brats took over a whole city? How does that even happen?" Toko whined out loud.

"How did they even get those Monakumas under their control though?" Sayaka asked, surprised that a bunch of children were in control of the killer bear robots.

"They're probably connected to Junko in some way," Leon stated out loud. "Well maybe,"

"Junko has demonstrated she's capable of many things. I suppose having children take over a city with Monokumas, isn't too… out of the realm considering everything that's happened so far," Celeste said wondering how she pulled it off exactly.

"But the actual question is, how are they connected to her, if that is the case?" Byakuya questioned.

"That's something that we won't know unless we can find out otherwise," Taka stated. "Still… it is utterly morally reprehensible, the actions those kids are committing!"

"Well morally reprehensible or not, they're the ones in control," Hiro pointed out. "I hope the Future Foundation dudes over there are safe,"

"Considering what we saw earlier from the smiley pin camera… I don't think so," Hifumi said uneasily.

"It doesn't help that we can't intervene," Sakura said. "According to those Warriors of Hope, if we try to intervene any more then we have, then we risk them harming our loved ones, as they mentioned in the past,"

"This whole thing is so cruel," Chihiro stated sadly, as it was indeed a very despair inducing situation.

"It'll be alright Chihiro! I know Mukuro can save all our loved ones!" Asahina pointed out, as she felt confident in their strong soldier classmate.

"We just need to have faith in her," Kyoko calmly pointed out. "She's going to do her best to find and rescue everyone. The fact she already found Makoto's younger sister is a good start,"

"Yeah… I just hope Mukuro's safe as well besides Komaru," Makoto said quietly. Everyone else in the room looked at Makoto curiously, as his face was a mix of concern and unease. "Sorry. We still haven't heard from her since yesterday. I hope she's okay,"

"You guys all need to lighten up. Here let me tell you guys a funny story from my time when I was with my biker gang," Mondo said, catching everyone's attention.

"Wow. I didn't know Mondo was the type to tell tales," Hiro said, sounding a bit surprised, while Hifumi snickered at the comment.

"So, let me tell you guys in particular about my bodyguard in the gang who was also my closest friend there… Yukimaru. He's stubborn, tough, proud and doesn't budge easy on everything with one exception. He's afraid of girls for some reason, despite having a huge fan club of girls for his looks. So, one time for one of his birthdays, we got one of those huge ass cakes, where you can hide people in. When we wheeled the cake to him, we had some of those fangirls hiding in there, and then they popped out and surprised him, he fainted right on the spot! What a guy!" Mondo said as he ended with a big hearty laugh. Everyone else looked at him with blank expressions, not sure what to say with the exception of Taka who decided to be a good sport and tried to fake a laugh at what he heard. Makoto finally decided to speak up as he tried to respond as well.

"Wow that's ummm… that's great Mondo," Makoto said with an awkward smile, trying to not sound, not sure at all at what he just heard, while Mondo smiled, at hearing that, oblivious to everyone else's silence.

"You bet it's fucking great! Though I hope he's doing alright in Towa City right now." Mondo said. "Though knowing him, he'll be alright. He was my bodyguard after all,"

"Well if he was your bodyguard, then I suppose he must have been real good then," Taka said, still trying to be a good sport for Mondo, as the biker gang leader kept smiling with a big grin. "I'm sure he'll be fine then!"

* * *

Komaru and Mukuro were now in front of the Untouchable Kendo gun shop. A sense of tension overtook Komaru as she really wondered if this was the best idea. She felt mixed as a part of her wanted to let the gun shop owner know what happened, yet another part wondered how the gun shop owner was going to react to this knowledge, and it didn't help that this person owned a store full of dangerous weapons that could be used against her and Mukuro, depending on how volatile his reaction was to this piece of information they give to him.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this Mukuro," Komura said. "What if he… reacts pretty badly? Plus he owns a gun shop, and well… maybe he'll use his guns in the gun shop against us?"

"He helped me out earlier. It's only fair I let him know what happened. Besides if he tries to do anything like that… I'll make sure he won't if it comes to that," Mukuro answered, as Komaru gulped in response. She opened the door to the gun shop, and she wasn't surprised to see the old man from before, pointing his shotgun at the front door, while Komaru gulped, as having a shotgun focused on you, was never a good way to be greeted unless you were into that sort of thing. The gun shop owner slowly lowered it down upon seeing Mukuro.

"Oh, it's you. Who's she?" the gun shop owner asked out of curiosity. "Also, did you find my granddaughter?"

"She's the reason why I was searching the hospitals. As for your granddaughter… I'm going to say this. I hope you're prepared for the worst," Mukuro said. She took out from her backpack the note she found in the hospital. She gave the note to the gun shop owner. He read the contents of the note in silence, and he then sighed.

"Don't tell me she's gone. Please say that isn't the case," the gun shop owner said with worry.

"I'm sorry sir but… I found her like this," Mukuro said as she took out her smartphone and then showed him the photos of the note where she found it originally, and then of his granddaughter's dead body. The gun shop owner's face remained stoic as he saw this and remained silent. He walked over to the counter and took out a couple of handgun ammo boxes, then walked back over to Mukuro and gave it to her. He simply pointed to the entrance of the door, and Mukuro immediately understood that he wanted both herself and Komaru to leave. The two just did as he wanted, as they both left the gun shop and now stood in front of it again.

"Do you think he'll be alright? I was surprised he took that as well as he did," Komaru asked both concerned and surprised.

"He just needs time alone to mourn. Everyone takes to news like that differently," Mukuro answered seriously.

"Yeah. I guess that's true," Komaru answered back quietly. "So, it looks like he got you handgun ammo. What now Mukuro?"

"Hmmm… I think for now we should- " but suddenly something landed nearby them. They both looked to the ground nearby them, and saw that it was a grenade. Komaru blinked her eyes with fear, while Mukuro immediately grabbed her hand, and ran off with Komaru in tow, as an explosion soon occurred on the spot where they were before they ran. As soon as the explosion cleared they saw multiple Monokumas of a new type. They were Monokumas that wore green bulletproof vests, green helmets, and wore silver cylindrical containers filled with many hand grenades on their backs. They were known as Bomber Monokumas.

"Now they got grenades!?" Komaru shouted out nervously. Before both her and Mukuro could do anything, the gun shop owner from before, came out of his shop and stood in the front with his shotgun, and immediately fired a shot on one of the Bomber Monokumas, knocking it down, and causing its grenades to spill out on its back, which soon exploded, taking itself out.

"You two go! Get out of here now!" the gun shop owner yelled out. Hearing this, Mukuro immediately continued to run off with Komaru's hand in tow. The gun shop owner reloaded his shotgun, and had the attention of the remaining Bomber Monokumas focused on him. "All of you bears come at me! See all you damn bears in Hell!"

The gun shop owner retreated into his gun shop, and left it open, as all the Bomber Monokuma went into it. Both Komaru and Mukuro were a significant distance away, as they rounded the corner of the street. Komaru looked concerned wondering if the gun shop owner was going to be safe.

"We should go back for him Mukuro!" Komaru suggested. Before Mukuro could respond, a huge explosion was heard. "What was that!?"

They both slowly rounded the corner back onto the main street, and what Komaru saw, immediately made her feel like her tears was ready to leak out from what she saw, while Mukuro's face turned stoic. The gun shop was now completely destroyed, as rubble laid where it was, and the neon signs of "Untouchable Kendo," no longer lit up, as it laid upon the destroyed rubble of the gun shop. The two stood in silence for a bit, as they saw this.

"Judging by his last words… he might have been feeling pretty suicidal himself," Mukuro spoke quietly. "He was wearing a belt attached with grenades,"

"He turned himself into a suicide bomber… to take out all the Monokumas with their bombs," Komaru spoke quietly, feeling terrible about what just happened. Silence befell the two as it seemed that the situation has proven to not be kind at all, and Komaru was feeling her negativity grow within her, the more horrors she witnessed. The silence was soon broken when the two heard a new voice, suddenly yell out which broke the grave mood.

"What the fuck just happened!?" shouted what sounded like a male teenager. Both Komaru and Mukuro looked confused, as they turned around behind them and saw a male teenager. He wore a white T-shirt with a black biker jacket with dragon markings, black jeans with a gray belt that had a horned demon design as a buckle, and white socks. On the back of his biker jacket, was a dragon design that held a diamond in its mouth that was golden in color. He had short spiky dirty blonde hair, had a pretty face, and was a bit short himself. He wielded a pickaxe, and on the pickaxe's handle, the words Crazy Diamonds could be seen written messily with black marker.

Komaru blinked her eyes with a blank expression, not sure what to make of this new individual while Mukuro's eyes widened as she realized this was another one of the hostages she had to rescue, connected to her classmates.

"Did you two bitches fucking blow some shit up or something!?" the teenager boy shouted. "Because that building sure as hell isn't fucking here anymore!"

"What? We didn't blow anything up!" Komaru responded, sounding a bit annoyed from what she just heard from the vulgar teenager boy.

"Is your name Takemichi Yukimura?" Mukuro asked seriously, while the boy's face contorted into one of panic and anger, while Komaru was surprised to hear that Mukuro knew the teenager's name.

"What the fuck!? How the hell do you know my name?" Yukimura yelled out, backing away from the two teenager girls. "I don't trust you two broads at all for sure now! I'm out of here!"

With this Yukimura ran off. Mukuro seeing this immediately chased after him, while Komaru was confused, as to why Mukuro was chasing after him, and soon followed after them.

"Wait! Stop! I'm part of the Future Foundation! I'm here to save you and others!" Mukuro shouted out, while running after him.

"Future Foundation? The fuck is that cheesy name bullshit!? I don't believe anything you have to say! Especially when you're armed like fucking Rambo!" Yukimura said trying to sound tough, though in all honesty, he felt a bit afraid of the two. One reason due to not gelling well with women at all, and due to Mukuro's weapons on her and the explosion from earlier. Soon the chase led to a busted up hotel that had a red carpet outside, with Yukimura speeding inside, as he proved to be a very fast runner, as if he were a motorcycle himself. As soon as Mukuro and Komaru made it inside, they both noticed he was gone from sight.

"He should still be around in this hotel somewhere. Let's try to find him Komaru," Mukuro stated.

"Is he like me? Another person that was kidnapped?" Komaru asked, as she tried to figure out how Mukuro knew Yukimura's name.

"Yes. Though unfortunately like you, he's proving to be far more uncooperative," Mukuro replied back. The two looked around, as they noticed that they were in the receptionist room of the hotel, as it was damaged with debris, blocking the doors on the current floor. They noticed a low ledge nearby that led to the upper floor of the hotel, with painted yellow paint, and a paint can with a large paintbrush dipped in yellow paint, oddly enough. "Looks like he went up,"

"Well let's find him! I'm going to teach him, that I don't blow stuff up, unless I'm playing a game of Bomberman with my brother!" Komaru exclaimed while Mukuro was now imagining herself playing a game of Bomberman with Makoto and Komaru, and her always targeting Komaru while doing so, and then letting herself lose, so Makoto could win. The two went up to the ledge, and Komaru awkwardly tried to jump and climb it herself, but found herself slipping off.

"I'll help you up Komaru. Try climbing up on the ledge, and then I'll help push you up it," Mukuro suggested as Komaru nodded. Komaru tried climbing the ledge as Mukuro helped pushed her onto it. Mukuro then leaped on and climbed the ledge herself with no issues. Soon the two continued their search as they made it to a hallway in the hotel. They slowly made their way through, seeing more debris and dead bodies. As they moved through, they found something that caught Komaru's attention.

"Look Mukuro! A pay phone! Maybe it'll work and we can call outside for help?" Komaru suggested.

"I highly doubt it considering everything that's happened so far," Mukuro stated. "Besides even if it did work, I don't have any coins and neither do you to use it,"

"Oh… that is a good point actually," Komaru said as she looked disappointed from hearing that. "You know, you don't see many of these things around much now,"

"It's because a majority of people generally have a cellphone compared to back then. No point to having these when they barely get used." Mukuro stated. "I don't mind them going away. They give me bad memories anyway, growing up anyway,"

"They give you bad memories?" Komaru asked curiously, and Mukuro cursed inwardly, as she realized that she didn't mean to talk about herself like that. "I don't understand how pay phones can give someone bad memories though,"

"It's… complicated," Mukuro said as she had memories flash back when she was much younger, searching through many payphones coin change dispensers for change, for survival related reasons. "Sorry I rather not talk about it,"

"No, it's okay. We should get back to searching for Yukimura anyway," Komaru suggested. The two continued their search and saw Monokumas with chef hats, bludgeoned to pieces as they laid on the ground, not moving anymore. "Guess those Monokumas won't be cooking anything, anytime soon,"

"He's not bad at fighting with a pickaxe it looks like," Mukuro said. "Good thing he can fend for himself,"

The two found a room to look into to search for Yukimura. It was empty aside from furniture and electronics. Curiously enough what appeared to be a manga left in the room. To this, Komaru's eyes twinkled with delight, as she immediately went up to the manga and started going through it.

" **OH MY GOD MUKURO! IT'S THE FIRST VOLUME OF THE BOMB INSIDE HER!** " Komaru squealed with delight.

"What?" Mukuro said blankly, surprised at Komaru's huge enthusiasm for a manga, especially one with that kind of title. "The Bomb Inside Her?"

"Yeah! It's about a girl with bombs inside her, that if she ever falls in love, they'll explode!" Komaru explained. "So she tries to not fall for anyone. But in this book a boy confesses his love for her and it goes from there,"

"How does she even have the bombs inside of her to begin with? That sounds as absurd as someone dying because they saw violence or their shadow getting stepped on," Mukuro pointed out. Komaru blinked her eyes as those sounded oddly specific. "I just said the first things that came into my head. Don't get any wrong ideas,"

"Well sometimes the best things are the ones that come to you naturally like that," Komaru said with a cheeky expression, while Mukuro rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'm such a huge fan of manga in general. Can I take it with us?"

"Honestly? I rather you didn't. Anything that's non-essential is just going to slow us down I feel," Mukuro said. Komaru then tried to do a puppy eyed dog look, pleading with her eyes while Mukuro sighed in response. She really didn't want to go through an argument so she decided to do this. "I'll make sure that once we get out of here, I'll get you a digital copy back at Future Foundation Headquarters. Digital books are a thing now on tablets and all,"

"You promise?" Komaru asked, as Mukuro nodded back to her, to say yes. Komaru then had a cheeky grin on her face form from seeing that. "All right! Well let's continue looking for Yukimura,"

The two exited the room as they continued down the hallway, as they searched for Yukimura. Multiple rooms turned up empty as they eventually made it to an elevator, to search the lower floor. What the two found in front of the elevator doors however proved to be extremely concerning. It was a yellow card that had a black and white picture of a teenager girl, and it was labelled hit list. Mukuro picked it up and looked it over, and decided to read it over. It had a label for a demon name called "Kanondos," and a label for the person's real name being, "Kanon Nakajima," that she immediately recognized as someone being related to another of her classmates. She also noticed a description on the hit list about the person and decided to read it out.

"A demon who's real pretty and doesn't even wear much makeup. A super perverted demon who worked as a manager of the baseball team. When hunting, use a handsome Monokuma to make it feel desire for the last time before you kill it!" Mukuro read out loud, as Komaru's face had sweat dripping from hearing that, both from fear and a bit of awkwardness from the description she just heard.

"This… this isn't good," Komaru said. "They're taking this demon hunting… very seriously,"

"Children when not inhibited can possibly really follow through on what they want for better or worse," Mukuro stated quietly.

"I hope we can save her." Komaru replied. "A beautiful manager of a baseball team... and they want to use a handsome Monokuma for her?"

"Well… don't worry. I'm going to save her as well at some point, just like I did for you, and trying to do for Yukimura at the moment," Mukuro answered.

"That's good Mukuro," Komaru said, glad to be with someone who cared so much about her mission. A mission that entailed saving people, which included her. "I wonder if they made a hit list of… me?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Mukuro answered quietly, as Komaru looked dismayed from hearing that. "Come on Komaru. Let's continue searching for Yukimura,"

Komaru nodded as they both continued on. They soon ended up in a large area, that held the doors to the exit of the hotel in, but a boy Monokuma Kid was there and present, standing next to a laptop.

"Did you see a person in a biker jacket here earlier with a pickaxe?" Komaru asked, wondering if the child be willing to answer her question.

"Tee hee," the Monokuma Kid simply said as he took out a note and handed it to Komaru, and then pointed towards the laptop, that had a wire connected to the doors leading out of the hotel in this area. Both Komaru and Mukuro went up to the laptop and saw that it a screen asking for a four-number password to open the door, to leave the hotel. Komaru and Mukuro then looked at the note.

"Challenge. If you want to know the password, try asking the upside-down bird," Komaru read out loud, as the note also depicted a bird looking upside down. Komaru sounded and looked disappointed as she said the following. "He… he didn't answer my question Mukuro,"

"I don't think this kid is interested in answering us. Looks like we have to figure out the riddle to get the password to this room if we want to leave when we input it in that laptop," Mukuro pointed out. "Though that does beg the question… if Yukimura managed to get out of this room, how did he do it?"

The Monokuma Kid pulled out a red lollipop, as if to answer Mukuro's question, while she wondered if this one would accept a small box of raisins, seeing how the kid shown he was willing to be bribed.

"Then leave it to me! This kid's riddle will be… child's play!" Komaru proclaimed with a pun.

"Good to see you take the initiative. Very well, let's do it," Mukuro said with a smirk, as they both looked around the large room, for the password. They saw many chairs arranged in a particular way, and what appeared to be a green arcade machine with the artwork depicting ball like Monokumas, a black screen with red text to insert coins, and the arcade machine was called Moku Man. Curiously enough, they saw that the arcade machine was wired to a camera that overlooked the chairs in the room.

"I wonder… " Mukuro said as she and Komaru had a realization hit them. "Try using a move bullet on the arcade machine Komaru,"

"Alright," Komaru said as she switched to the move bullet. "Let's see if what we're thinking is going to work,"

Komaru fired a green move bullet at the arcade machine, and the screen on the arcade machine soon changed into a camera feed of the room and it soon displayed a camera feed of the room, focusing on the chairs in the room.

"The chairs spell out… hell?" Komaru asked curiously. "Well this city might be like that right now, but hell isn't numbers,"

"Remember Komaru. The bird was upside down," Mukuro stated calmly. Komaru blinked her eyes for a bit but she then she realized what Mukuro was getting at, as they shone with realization. As soon as she did, she saw exactly what Mukuro meant.

"I see!" Komaru exclaimed. She then rushed over to the laptop and inputted the following numbers. "Seven, seven, three, four! Those are the numbers that you see when you see the world hell, upside down!"

With that, an unlocking sound could be heard, and the Monokuma Kid fell down from surprise, that they solved the challenge given to them.

"Yay! It's open!" Komaru cheered happily as she jumped up and down in joy.

"Boo hoo," the Monokuma Kid whined, annoyed that they managed to solve the riddle. Komaru had a huge cheeky grin as she posed dramatically, proud of her victory in the current situation.

"Awww yeah, that's right! Who's the boss now? I am, I am!" Komaru proudly boasted, while Mukuro had an awkward expression form on her face from hearing that.

"You might be taking this a bit too far now Komaru," Mukuro said, wondering if Komaru was more childish then the actual children. Komaru just cheekily grinned hearing that, as she didn't mind, while they both walked out of the hotel in a different area outside. "Now where's Yukimura?"

"Oh shit!" shouted a familiar vulgar voice. Both Mukuro and Komaru turned to face the direction of the voice as they saw Yukimura, who was resting against a large metal crate nearby who saw them. "You two again!? Fuck I'm tired of running! Man this day fucking sucks! I already had to give up a lollipop I had, to that kid to let me through his stupid challenge, and I was planning on heading down that bridge!"

Mukuro and Komaru noted that, that there was indeed a large bridge in the area close by. Though right now they were focused on the other teenager, as they both carefully walked towards Yukimura in a calm manner, trying to not make him panic. It was not working as he stood up and held his pickaxe defensively, his hands shaking. While this happened, from a distance away, we see one Monokuma Kids watching them with binoculars, and held what appeared to be a detonator, curiously enough. We go back to focusing on the three teenagers from earlier, as Yukimura was starting to shout back at them.

"Stay back bitches! Don't make me have to cave your skulls in!" Yukimura shouted, trying to sound tough, though in reality he sounded a bit nervous, trying to mask his fear by sounding tough, as this whole situation in general was just crazy for him and he wasn't good around females in general.

"Calm down. We're not here to hurt you," Mukuro stated as calmly as she could.

"How do I know that!?" Yukimura yelled out, as his hands trembled on the pickaxe he held. "You're still armed like fucking Rambo, and she's got a… megaphone she can scream in people's ears at?"

"Because if we wanted to hurt you, don't you think we would have actually… tried to hurt you by now?" Komaru said. Yukimura hearing this slowly eased up as he had to admit that was a good point.

"Alright. What do you two bitches want then? I already have to deal with enough fucking fan girls when I wasn't in this city. Do you two want to suck my damn dick too, even with all the bullshit happening at the moment?" Yukimura asked. Mukuro hearing this, gritted her teeth as she felt as if she was ready to just shoot Yukimura and report him to already being dead when she found him, while Komaru just had a very awkward expression on her face, not sure how to respond at all to what she just heard. Mukuro thankfully calmed down enough to say something back.

"I'm here to rescue you. Like I said before, I'm part of Future Foundation, which is a group trying to help repair the world, in any way we can," Mukuro explained. Yukimura's facial expression continued to calm down, as he heard her talk. "Right now, I'm trying to save individuals who were held hostage in this city in general. You're one of the people I'm here to rescue from all of this." Mukuro answered.

"She's telling the truth! She helped saved me and I was a hostage as well," Komaru added, trying to help Yukimura calm down. He slowly stopped trying to hold his pickaxe in a defensive stance, and soon sat on the ground, calming down more. He sighed, and calmed down fully as he stood up and looked at the two. He noticed the two did not seem hostile to him at all despite everything so far. He relaxed his grip, causing both Mukuro and Komaru to sigh in relief, that he wouldn't try to attack them with his pickaxe anymore at the moment.

"Huh... well sorry. I'm normally a lot more cool headed, but with everything that's happened lately, I kind of lost it. Though... I don't need you two anyway, even if you two aren't trying to blow me up or anything," Yukimura pointed out, sounding more relaxed compared to before despite still not wanting to be with them, due to his nature with women. "I'm heading down this bridge to get back to the mainland. I guess you two are alright, but I don't feel like sticking around anymore."

"Wait! That bridge leads back to the mainland?" Komaru asked, as her eyes lit up with happiness and hope from what she just heard.

"Then that's a way off Towa City, and where I can bring you and the other people I have to rescue to a safer place," Mukuro stated out loud, liking this new development she just heard.

"Yes it is and I'm leaving now." Yukimura answered calmly to Komaru. Just as he said that though, the whole ground began to shake, surprising the three teenagers. They all looked towards the bridge, as it seemed to be the source of the shaking and they all saw something that made them very concerned and surprised. Farther along the bridge they all saw a huge explosion rock the middle of the bridge. The Monokuma Kid watching the three from afar, had activated the detonator he was holding, which caused the explosion on the bridge. The bridge now broke off in the middle, preventing anyone from getting to the other side, when the smoke from the explosion cleared.

" **YOU GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!?** " Yukimura exploded with rage and surprised from what he saw. Mukuro had an extremely pained expression form on her face, from seeing a way for her to bring the survivors out of Towa City blow up, while Komaru's face looked blank, as if she wasn't sure how to feel at what just happened, as it now looked as if she was holding herself back from crying, from what she just saw. " **NO!** "

Seeing this, Yukimura immediately ran towards the bridge, while Mukuro and Komaru chased after him again. They eventually caught up when he stood before the huge hole that separated the bridge to the other side, due to the explosion. The three took a long look at the hole that led to the ocean below, and to the other side. Komaru just dropped to the floor, her face looking blank while Mukuro looked towards her, confused. Yukimura in the meantime just cursed and yelled in frustration.

" **FUCK!** God damn it! Now I can't get out of here!" Yukimura yelled out of anger. "Now I'll have to search for that Resistance Base that one nice white bear I met, talked about, if I want to survive!"

"Resistance Base? Nice white bear?" Mukuro said with both a confused and curious tone in her voice. Before she could question him any further, he took off, running back to the city. She was about to run after him again, till she noticed that Komaru remained on the ground, her face now crying and leaking tears. "Komaru? We have to go after Yukimura!"

But Komaru laid still on the ground as she cried while Mukuro was confused, as Komaru began to sob loudly. Mukuro had a pained expression form on her face, as Yukimura was getting away from them, as he had become no longer calm and got away from them again. She sighed, as he was gone by sight by now and turned to face Komaru who was still crying.

"Komaru?" Mukuro asked, sounding a bit frustrated yet she couldn't help but wonder what had suddenly gotten into her all of sudden. "Why… why are you crying?"

"It's hopeless…" Komaru sobbed out as she was now on her knees on the ground, tears leaking profusely out of her eyes. "It seems… every time I try to escape… reality locks me up again like a prisoner. We could have gotten out of here, through this bridge at some point!"

"No crying. We don't have time for this," Mukuro answered her back. "The bridge to escape Towa City, became unusable because they blew it up in the middle. But that's just how it is and we'll have to accept that. Nothing's going to change that fact, no matter how hard you cry,"

Mukuro waited for Komaru to stand back up and to stop crying. But Komaru continued to cry and stay on the ground, refusing to do anything else. Mukuro decided to speak again, seeing how she still remained like this.

"Come on. If we stay here, the Monokumas will eventually find us again," Mukuro said, trying to make Komaru get up.

"It's… it's impossible," Komaru replied with tears back, as she continued to bawl.

"No it's not impossible. We're still living aren't we?" Mukuro stated calmly. "If you just choose to surrender now, then you're going to die for sure."

"Well… I'm just going… to die anyway!" Komaru answered with sobs choking her voice. "Unlike you who's way stronger then me… I'm… I'm just a normal average girl! I can't do anything! No matter what I do, or how hard I try, I'm going to die here!"

"I don't believe that you can't do anything at all," Mukuro said, while Komaru felt confused at what she just heard. "Because if you can't do anything, then we wouldn't have met at the roof of the hospital,"

"What… what do you mean?" Komaru said sobbing still, though curious of what Mukuro meant.

"Think Komaru. If you truly couldn't have done anything, you wouldn't have survived till this point, before we met each other again." Mukuro answered, trying to encourage her. Komaru however still sobbed, which caused Mukuro to sigh frustrated. "Stop wasting time. Is this really how you want things to end? Accepting how things are, and not fighting for what you want? Don't you want to see your family again?"

"Of course I don't want things to end like this! I also want… I want… to see my family again!" Komaru answered back, sniffling now. "But we've been separated for over a year! I… I don't even know where they are! It's probably too late anyway… I'll probably never see them again!"

"You don't know that for sure," Mukuro said, and she herself definitely knew that for sure, as Makoto was safe back at headquarters. "Don't give up. Keep going Komaru. Giving up like this isn't going to help you,"

"No, you don't understand… the worst despair of all comes from having hope like that. Having such strong hope and just losing it like that, in an instant. In this case… the bridge being blown up that would have let us, escape this nightmare…" Komaru answered, sobbing still.

"That attitude is not going to get you anywhere at all. There's no point in giving up, when trying at least has a chance of success. If you're going to give up, then you're basically going to let the enemy kill you and I won't stand for that. If you try, even with the odds against you, there's a chance you can succeed." Mukuro said to her. "I've lived my whole life, fighting and I've never stopped fighting. I'm here today, living and breathing because of that and from the support I've had from others. You've made it this far because of everything you've done Komaru and those who are willing to help you like me, so please don't stop trying,"

"Why? Why do you bother… trying to cheer someone like me up?" Komaru asked, as she rubbed her tear filled eyes with her hands.

"I'm a member of Future Foundation, and I won't just abandon you. I have a mission to do and I'm going to see it through," Mukuro answered. Komaru slowly began to take deeper breaths as she slowly stood up, and she let her remaining tears in her eyes fall to the ground, till her eyes were dryer compared to when she was crying, though still not fully dried yet.

"Okay… I'll try. At least a little bit longer," Komaru said. "But… what can we try next? What are our options at this point? The bridge is a no go, so even if we wanted to escape, we can't!"

"Option one is to find Yukimura, because that's what I still have to do. I still have to find and rescue some people in general," Mukuro said, as she thought about what he said about a resistance base, and oddly enough a nice white bear he mentioned. "Before he ran away again… he said something about a Resistance Base… if we find this Resistance Base, we might find him again hopefully, and maybe have a place for shelter for while we're here,"

"But… we still be stuck here in Towa City, though wouldn't we?" Komaru asked. Mukuro shook her head for a no.

"Not exactly, and this brings me to option two which explains why we wouldn't, or at least shouldn't be stuck here. I just remembered from the map I have… there should be a subway line running through this town," Mukuro said with confidence.

"A subway? Did the subway line go out of the city!?" Komaru asked with excitement in her voice again.

"I think so," Mukuro said, as she took out her map of Towa City, as she and Komaru looked at it. There was indeed a subway system for Towa City, and it did indeed go out of the city. "There's a subway station around the nearby area. We can go look into it for the time being since we lost Yukimura and see if the trains are working or not,"

"And if they aren't?" Komaru asked concerned. "The power for the trains might be out, considering the complete chaos happening,"

"Then we can just simply walk along the tracks to get out of this city." Mukuro answered, while Komaru felt as if her whole being felt more positive again from hearing that. "But keep in mind I still intend to rescue people here. So for now we're going to check and see if the trains are running or not,"

Komaru slowly felt as if she were back to her normal self, as her whole body and being felt it was back to her bubblier self from before fully, as she had a small smile on her face form now.

"Yeah… okay! Well Mukuro… I'm starting to think if we work together, we can survive together for sure," Komaru said feeling a lot better.

"If that's the case, then let's get moving already. I'm kind of annoyed as it is, since we almost had Yukimura with us earlier, before he ran off again," Mukuro answered, trying hard to not sound frustrated. "I feel like I should have taken that manga from earlier for myself, just to toss it at you whenever you get sad,"

Komaru just cheekily smiled from hearing that, while Mukuro just sighed, though she was starting to feel more calm herself, to see Komaru back to feeling better.

"Mukuro… let's get out of here together, okay?" Komaru asked, with a very sincere tone and voice. Mukuro stayed silent as she heard this from Komaru but nodded back, agreeing with her, as they slowly began to walk back to Towa City, searching for what they could do next.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **So how was it? Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. So you may have noticed that Yuta Asahina, who meets Komaru and Toko at the bridge that explodes in the original Danganronpa Another Episode, didn't show up in this universe's take on the events. That doesn't mean he won't show up later though, as he will.**

 **2\. In the hotel while both Mukuro and Komaru were chasing after Yukimura, the hit list they found for Leon Kuwata's cousin, was originally a hit list for Ishimaru's father in the original Danganronpa Another Episode. Things will kind of be switched around in general for reasons I have planned.**

 **3\. Mukuro talking about how someone dying because they saw violence or their shadow getting stepped on, are references to Danganronpa 3 in regards to the "forbidden actions," of the Final Killing Game in Danganronpa 3. A forbidden action is different for each of the participants in the Final Killing Game, and performing it, will have a poison injected into you, killing you. Mukuro referenced two of them (just to be clear, Danganronpa 3 didn't happen yet in this universe, and she was not involved with the original one as well from the anime).**

 **4\. Bomber Monokuma are indeed another type of Monokuma besides the normal ones. They too like the Beast Monokumas made their debut in Danganronpa Another Episode.**

 **5\. Yukimura and the way he acted towards Mukuro and Komaru references his hit list, which says he is not fond of girls, despite having a fanclub full of them.  
**

 **6\. Mukuro talking about her past like that is actually referencing about how she and Junko grew up, when they were younger, which is some pretty heavy stuff, that maybe delved into at a later point in this story.**

 **7\. The Resistance Base and the "white nice bear," will be familiar to anyone who played the original Danganronpa Another Episode, as some things will still remain consistent with it.**

 **8\. Yukimura saying Mukuro is dressed like Rambo, references the movie series of the same name, which involves a former soldier who seriously knows how to fight and survive like a killing machine.  
**

 **Well that should be it for now. As usual, if you have anything you want to say, point out, criticize, and so on, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. Till the next chapter!**


	7. Crying for Love in Hell

**We are finally at Chapter 7! As usual I'll address the previous reviews before moving on.  
**

 **I hope that your eyes are feeling better and that you're enjoying your game on the Switch. Who knew Kyoko (who is also apparently Team Dad) and Makoto were best buds with Hiro's mom, Mondo was capable of a Sojiro Sakura impression, Komaru is the demolition girl just like that bomb girl in the manga, Nagito and Monaca are making Seiko go through some crazy stuff, Haiji is already a goner, Yukimura has things to work on, and Zombie Chiaki and Izuru are still together. Fun shenanigans as usual.**

 ** **So thanks again to everyone, as I still appreciate everyone who has reviewed, and is reading my story in general so far. I hope you're liking the story so far, and enjoy the next chapter!****

* * *

We see a silhouette of an adult begging and screaming for mercy in an unknown dark area. Unfortunately for that adult, he was soon silenced from being stabbed by what appeared to be a drill like object, from a large humanoid silhouette in that unknown dark area. A certain red-haired kid nearby smirked in delight from seeing that happen.

"Heh. Another point for me," Masaru said with glee as he was sipping on a straw attached to a soda can. "Another demon that will never bother the children of this world, ever again! I truly am the hero!"

Masaru smirked. He was sure he was going to win this game no matter what. He wouldn't let any other kid endure the physical hardships he had growing up no matter what.

"I'm going to be king of Towa City! Then Monaca will be my queen… and the children's paradise can begin," Masaru boasted. "If I'm going to win this demon hunting game though, I'm going to need more points! I hope that special demon… the one that Nagisa said was worth more points shows up to me soon. If I can kill her, then I'll win this for sure!"

Masaru laughed with absolute confidence to himself while the large humanoid figure continued to destroy that adult which was already dead, as the sounds of drilling could be heard in this unknown area.

* * *

Both Mukuro and Komaru began to walk back deciding to look for Yukimura again, and/or for the subway system. Whoever or whatever they found first. The two decided to go past the hotel and head towards the other side of it, looking for the subway in the area, using the map that Mukuro had from the now deceased gun shop owner from earlier that day. They were approaching a small building that had a red banner labeled Koban to go through till they heard a siren go off.

"Did we trip some sort of alarm or something!?" Komaru shouted out in fear, while the two looked around confused. Suddenly another new type of Monokuma has appeared before them, as it jumped off the roof of the building they intended to enter and landed nearby them. It was half white, and half yellow and black stripes, had yellow triangle with a red exclamation point as its belly button, had a red alarm on the top of it, and wore a steel backpack its back. These were Siren Monokumas, and they were the type to be loud as two more regular Monokumas soon showed up, because of it.

"We have to take out that one, before any more Monokumas show up! It's alerting the other ones!" Mukuro pointed out, as she ran towards the Siren Monokuma, and immediately decapitated it, with her knives. She then using her right foot, stomped hard on the Siren Monokuma's alarm on the top, shattering it to pieces, while Komaru shot at the two nearby Monokuma with blue break bullets, defeating them with ease.

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of fighting robotic bears with a gun that looks like a megaphone," Komaru pondered out loud. "Still, it's something I rather not be doing,"

"Believe me, it can always be worse," Mukuro said, as she thought of the whole incident that happened, while she and Makoto tried to survive in Hope's Peak Academy. The two continued on into the building and found themselves in a room with white and black floor tiles, another arcade machine, and an open door that led outside. Inside was another pair of Monokuma Kids, as they had a present box nearby them. Komaru approached the present box and picked it up, while the two Monokuma Kids went past them, as they saw that Komaru received the present. Komaru opened the present and saw what appeared to be another SD card that was marked with the Japanese characters for the word dance.

"It looks like I have got another one of the Hacking Gun bullets back," Komaru stated with curiosity while Mukuro couldn't help but wonder why the Warriors of Hope would do this. "Looks like I can make those Monokumas do the Macarena again if I wanted too,"

"It's not a bad alternative when you want something to essentially leave themselves open by dancing," Mukuro pointed out. The two then saw the arcade machine nearby.

"But why are those kids still helping us? Aren't they our enemies?" Komaru pondered out loud while Mukuro still wasn't sure.

"Must be that game balance thing you mentioned from that person." Mukuro answered, still wondering about it herself, as it was definitely odd. "Anyway, you going to activate the arcade camera Komaru?"

"Oh, right. No problem!" Komaru fired a green move bullet at the arcade machine and the screen showed the camera's point of view showing the outside, which showed what appeared to three Monokumas standing outside. Two regular ones standing guard at the other entrance in that room, and a Siren Monokuma standing in front of an electric car, looking around.

"That electric car… I wonder," Mukuro pondered as Komaru looked at her confused. "Also, that Monokuma with the siren built into it… maybe if you…"

Mukuro went up to Komaru's ears and whispered for what she had in mind. Komaru smirked as she liked the sound of the idea, though both were unsure if this would work or not. Komaru took the lead, as she held the Hacking Gun and entered the area. She immediately fired a pink dance bullet at the Siren Monokuma. Upon making contact, the Siren Monokuma began to do dancing disco poses, with its alarm blaring and red siren going off. This attracted the other two regular Monokumas in the area towards the Siren Monokuma as they now stood right before the Siren Monokuma. Seeing this, she fired a green move bullet at the electric car that was facing the three of them. With this the electric car came to life as it charged forward and slammed into the three Monokumas, destroying them in the process.

"Good thing that worked out." Mukuro said with a relieved sigh.

"Well even if it didn't work, we probably could have taken them down regardless." Komaru said with a big smile.

"You're starting to feel more confident about yourself. That's a good attitude to have," Mukuro said, pleased to know that Komaru was starting to feel more confident about herself in general.

"Yeah. It's good to feel better again," Komaru said, as both her and Mukuro continued on, searching for any sign of Yukimura or the subway as they both walked and talked. "Sorry about before. I'm just… a very emotional person,"

"I can see that," Mukuro stated as she and Komaru arrived at a street, that near the end were two subway entrances. One was blocked by debris and the other wasn't. "And I can also see a subway entrance over there. Guess Yukimura's going to have to wait for this at the moment,"

"Let's go see if the subway trains are working!" Komaru exclaimed, as she ran towards the subway entrance that wasn't blocked by debris. However, she just ended up running down the steps and seeing that a metal shutter was blocking them, and it had a lock pad with a key shaped hole on it, attached to the metal shutter. "Well shoot! How are we going to get past this shutter?"

"Any lock should have a key. The problem is, finding where the actual key is though," Mukuro pondered, as she caught up with Komaru and took a look at the metal shutter. As they both looked at the metal shutter that had the padded lock on it, they both suddenly heard a key jangling like sound. Confused, both Mukuro and Komaru turned around and saw a female Monokuma Kid, holding what appeared to be a metal key that was attached to a large circular key chain.

"Tee hee," was all the Monokuma Kid said, before running off away from the two.

"Mukuro! That kid has the key for this shutter I think!" Komaru said as she pointed at the Monokuma Kid that was running away.

"I can see that! Hopefully this isn't another wild goose chase with no pay off. Let's go after her now!" Mukuro responded as she began running again, with Komaru following after her. The two ran after the girl who proved to be very nimble as she was outrunning the two. This led to them running all the way back to the hospital, as the young girl to an area of the hospital they didn't explore before, in a new hallway. They saw the Monokuma Kid enter a room that had two doors as it's entrance. Mukuro was about to go in till Komaru stopped her, as she asked for a breather.

"Man… all this running around, works up a good sweat," Komaru said, as she breathed hard for a bit. "Can I get a water bottle Mukuro?"

"Shouldn't we focus on catching the kid with the key? We do want to open up that metal shutter with the lock pad after all," Mukuro asked with narrowed eyes.

"I know, but she should be trapped in that room, right?" Komaru asked while Mukuro just sighed, and took one of the water bottles they found earlier, from this hospital and gave one to Komaru. "Thanks. Can I get a box of raisins too?"

"Rationing is not your forte, is it?" Mukuro said with crossed eyes, while Komaru shook her head with a no. Mukuro took out a box of raisins and gave it to Komaru.

"Thanks again. You're not going to take a water bottle or a box of raisins for yourself yet? You must be pretty tired," Komaru asked with curiosity.

"Not really. I'm pretty used to not having too eat without food or drink water for long or feeling winded in general," Mukuro said.

"How come?" Komaru asked. "Actually… now that I think about it… are you a part of Hope's Peak Academy?"

"What?" Mukuro asked, not sure how to feel about what she just heard. "What makes you say that?"

"Well it's just… you seem like you're the same age as my brother, who's missing at the moment," Komaru said while Mukuro looked contemplative. "And the thing is, you seem really talented at fighting, so I couldn't help but wonder about that. Are you an Ultimate?"

"If you must know, then yes you're not far from your assumption." Mukuro answered. "Yes. I am a student from Hope's Peak Academy. Well… former student if you want to get technical, considering everything that's happened lately,"

"What's your talent?" Komaru asked, as she probably figured it related to fighting in some way, as everything she's seen of Mukuro, made her think that way.

"I'm the Ultimate Soldier," Mukuro answered bluntly, while Komaru was even more amazed and impressed about the girl.

"Huh… say did you ever meet my brother? He was a student at Hope's Peak Academy as well," Komaru asked. Hearing this, Mukuro quickly put on a stoic face as she did not want to answer that question, at least not now to Komaru.

"Enough talking. Finish your water and raisins, and then let's head into that room already. I'm don't want to lose that kid," Mukuro answered seriously.

"Right, sorry," Komaru answered back as it seemed it have to be a question she have to save for another time, as she finished drinking her water bottle and eating her raisins. "I'm going to want to ask more about that in the future but for now, let's go in and nab that key from that kid!"

Mukuro just sighed but nodded. Soon both Komaru and Mukuro entered the room as the door shut behind them. They saw the Monokuma Kid standing nearby a bunch of large cabinets. Before they could approach her, one of the cabinets suddenly opened, as a very disgusting looking Monokuma popped out of it, causing Komaru to scream for bloody murder, and fall on her butt on the floor, while Mukuro backed away for a bit, gritting her teeth. Using this opportunity, the Monokuma Kid ran past the two and back into the hallway, leaving them to deal with this.

"Why is this one so creepy!?" Komaru screamed flailing her arms around. The Monokuma had one of it's robotic eyes popped out as it, with it being blue and large, unlike the black beady eyes the other normal Monokumas normally had, with cracks all around said blue eye, and it was covered in filth in general all over, as if it were stewing in a dumpster before being in that morgue locker for some reason. Its teeth were broken and no longer sharp, yet had a creepy grin on it's face still, despite that. It had no legs, three arms oddly enough, that were gangly like a spider. This was a Junk Monokuma, and needless to say, it looked like a robot that was somehow disfigured during its creation.

"I don't know, but I'm not going to let that stop us!" Mukuro shouted as she took out her knives. The Junk Monokuma in response, hacked and spat out discarded instant ramen cups that landed right in front of Komaru, who immediately got up and backed away, disgusted and creeped out even more by what she saw. The Junk Monokuma waddled over to the two, ready to smack at them with it's three arms. Mukuro seeing this, readied her knives carefully, and when it swung at her with two of its arms, she slashed them off, causing the machine to fall off balance. It tried to waddle with it's one arm, but was stuck in place. Komaru seeing this, took the opportunity to fire a break bullet at it, now that it was immobile and it soon blew up.

"God. What's next? That was practically a zombie Monokuma," Komaru said, trying to keep her composure. "And the fact it barfed up trash at me is disgusting. Why did it even do that!? They didn't need to emulate the zombie puking thing that much!"

"Well it's nothing right now, so it can't do that anymore," Mukuro pointed out. "Let's go. We can't afford to lose track of that kid, since she has the key to that shutter,"

Both Komaru and Mukuro exited the room as they looked around and saw that the Monokuma Kid was all the way down the hall, as if she was waiting for them. Upon seeing the two teenagers, the Monokuma Kid ran off into another room, that was at the very end, with both Komaru and Mukuro chasing after them. They arrived in a new room and saw that the Monokuma Kid was now standing by a safe, and had white present box with a green ribbon wrapped around it. The safe had a piece of paper attached to it with tape that had four symbols. A triangle, a square, a circle, and the letter X. The safe also had a laptop on top of a table attached to it nearby, similarly to the door in the hotel that they had to also solve with a password. earlier. The two noticed nearby that there were four paintings hanged up on the walls of the room. One painting had a picture of a pyramid, the second picture had a painting of a square pillow, another had a picture of a soccer ball, and the last picture was of a knocked down religious cross. Nearby the paintings was what appeared to be a can of red paint, with a paintbrush dipped into it.

"Let me guess, another challenge?" Mukuro asked, as the two of them walked over to the Monokuma Kid who handed them a note.

"Alright. Where's the key you were carrying?" Komaru asked. The Monokuma Kid pointed to the safe, and Mukuro rolled her eyes as she had a feeling another challenge was upon them, as the Monokuma Kid giggled in the meantime. Komaru cleared her throat before she decided to read the note given to them.

"Challenge. The key is inside the sturdy safe. It won't open if you force it, so don't bother trying. If you want to open the safe, you have to solve my riddle! The reason you can't see the answer is because you aren't thinking like a detective!" Komaru read out loud. "Huh? Thinking like a detective?"

"Well before we worry about that, let's open up this present box," Mukuro pointed out, she walked over to it, and opened it up with one of her knives. When she opened it, both Mukuro and Komaru saw that it was another SD card. This one was labeled with the Japanese characters for the word detect. "This is just like when you got the SD card for the dance bullet from earlier before."

"Yeah. Must be more of that game balancing at work," Komaru answered as she took the SD card and placed it back into the Hacking Gun as she placed it into one of the remaining empty SD card slots, and smiled happily, knowing that she now had four out of eight of the SD card slots back. "Yay! The Hacking Gun is halfway back to how it started!"

"So that makes it four out of eight. This one you just got back… it's for the detect function of the Hacking Gun," Mukuro stated out loud.

"So, this one isn't for fighting, then right?" Komaru said as she decided to test it out. She had the Hacking Gun switch to using detect, and instead of shooting out a bullet, like the other three, the weapon shot out a purple circular light instead, as Komaru held the trigger button. "It's like a flashlight now but purple!"

"Try using it all around this room. I bet whatever clues we need to open this safe, will be around here hopefully," Mukuro suggested as Komaru nodded to her.

Komaru pressed the trigger button again and as the purple light emerged from the Hacking Gun again, and as she shined it around the room, something caught her eye, as the light caught something suspicious.

"The paintings have… paint on them!" Komaru pointed out. Mukuro stared blankly back at her, at what she just heard from Komaru.

"They're paintings Komaru," Mukuro said back with an awkward expression. "They have… paint painted onto them normally,"

"Err… I should have worded that better," Komaru said, realizing what Mukuro meant, feeling embarrassed while Mukuro rolled her eyes. "What I meant was that the paintings have new stuff painted over them, that wasn't on them originally, that you can only see when you use the detect vision over them."

Komaru used one of her free hands to point directly at the painting with the pyramid, and on the pyramid, was the number seven marked in red paint now.

"If that's the case, the other three paintings probably have a number on them as well," Mukuro said back.

"But I don't understand how they have paint that only showed up because of me using the detect vision on it though," Komaru asked curiously.

"Invisible paint that doesn't react to normal light. It is an actual thing. Under the right conditions it can be revealed though," Mukuro pointed out. "When your hacking gun uses detect, it isn't using normal lighting."

"I see. This Hacking Gun is pretty amazing. I love to meet the inventor one day," Komaru said happily. "Well anyway, back to beating this kid at their challenge,"

Mukuro took out her notepad and wrote the number that was associated with each painting, as Komaru continued to use detect on the rest of the paintings in the room. The pyramid had the number seven, the painting with the square pillow had the number three, the painting with the soccer ball had the number zero, and the painting with the knocked down cross had the number one.

"So, the pyramid is seven, the square pillow is three, the soccer ball is zero, and the cross is one," Mukuro stated out loud. The two looked at the note and saw the symbols that were on it. "So assuming the shapes here match with the paintings that contain the same shapes…"

"Then the triangle matches the pyramid, the square matches the square pillow, the soccer ball matches the circle, and the cross matches the X," Komaru answered seeing where this was going as well. "Then if you match it up with the numbers the paintings are marked with, the password should be seven, three, zero, one! Especially since it's in that order!"

Komaru hurried over to the laptop and inputted the numbers. As she finished inputting the numbers, the sound of something unlocking could be heard, as the safe opened itself. The Monokuma Kid standing next to the safe, was knocked down by the safe's door smacking into her, causing her to wail and cry.

"Boo hoo! Waaah!" the Monokuma Kid whined disappointingly, as the child ran off, leaving both Mukuro and Komaru in the room. The two looked into the safe and saw a metal key within the safe.

"Oh yeah! Who's the master of solving riddles? I still am!" Komaru boasted while Mukuro was focused on grabbing the key. She also noticed that there was a manga in the vault, oddly enough besides the key, and when Komaru noticed, her eyes immediately twinkled with delight. "Ooh! Another manga!"

Komaru picked the manga out of the locker, looked at the cover of the manga, and then at the back of the book and saw that it had a brief summary as she quickly read it. After she finished reading it, Komaru grinned as she said the following.

"Would you mind getting me a digital copy of this manga as well?" Komaru asked while Mukuro just stared back at her a bit annoyed. "Pretty please? I think you enjoy Pure Family Companion!"

"Pure Family Companion? Guess that's another digital title I'll have to get you." Mukuro said back with an added sigh, while Komaru grinned. "What's it even about?"

"It's about a very dysfunctional family, that's living their usual dysfunctional lives when one day, someone tries to reform them to being normal while one of the family members doesn't want that to happen," Koamru explained. "I wonder between the two, who'll succeed?"

"Family huh?" Mukuro said, as the word family felt significant to her. "How's your family like Komaru?"

"Mine? Ummm… I say we're all pretty normal for the most part." Komaru said. "We're just a normal average family. Nothing I can think of that's really noteworthy. What about you Mukuro? How's your family like?"

"My family…" Mukuro said quietly as she thought about it, and what to say to Komaru. She and Junko didn't exactly have anyone else besides each other, growing up and presently at the moment. She thought about what to say, as she decided on what was alright. "I have a sister who's a lot more of a… special person then I am. At least I think she's more special compared to me,"

"Special in what way?" Komaru asked curiously.

"Let's just say that she's… a very complex person in general," Mukuro answered. "To be blunt, I'm not really fond of talking about my own family usually,"

"Ah. Well that's okay." Komaru said, as she noted that Mukuro really didn't seem to like talking about herself in general. "We should really get going anyway,"

"Agreed. Let's head back over there and check to see if this key works," Mukuro said with Komaru agreeing. After a bit of time and traversal the two made it back to the subway location with the locked metal shutter. Mukuro pulled out the key and carefully placed it into the keyhole on the lock, and slowly twisted it. An unlocking sound could be heard, as the lock on the metal shutter was now unlocked.

"Yay! It worked!" Komaru cheered happily. The two slowly descended upon the stairwell that it opened up, downwards. As they went down, they noticed graffiti now all over the walls that depicted things of all kinds that related to Monokumas, Monokuma Kids, and the Warriors of Hope and party decoration oddly enough were also on them. As the two went down, Komaru couldn't help but feel if something was wrong, as they just arrived at the blue subway doors at the end of the stairwell. Due to all the graffiti and decorations around, Komaru felt something was off about the place.

"Mukuro I… I don't like the looks of this," Komaru said concerned, feeling as if something was very wrong. "Should… should we turn back?"

"I thought you wanted to escape via the subway?" Mukuro asked while Komaru's face winced as that was technically true. "Regardless of that, I want to see if the subway line is working or not. If it is, it'll make transporting you and all the other people I plan to save out of here, a lot easier in the future,"

"I know but… well if that kid had the key that locked the shutter to this subway… then that might mean they might have tampered with whatever is beyond as well," Komaru asked. "It could be booby trapped possibly,"

"I can understand being worried about that but… if we don't try, we don't make any progress as well," Mukuro said, trying to reassure her it was going to be alright. "Plus, if we don't go in, that would mean us going after that kid for the key to open that metal shutter, was a waste of time and for nothing for the both of us,"

"Yeah… those are good points I have to admit." Komaru answered back, after hearing what Mukuro just said. "Alright... let's go in,"

* * *

The two opened the doors, and went in. They saw nothing but pitch blackness as they walked forward, as both of the teenager girls wondered if the power was truly out and if they would need to get flashlights, to see what was around. After both walked forward for a bit, Komaru decided to say something on the situation.

"Mukuro… I think we should go back here later, once we have flash-" but before Komaru could finish speaking, lights lit up in the huge room, they now saw themselves in. It was a huge circular arena, with metal fences surrounding the two, with large raised red bleachers for tons of Monokuma Kids behind the metal fences, where they were all watching and cheering loudly from. The two who were now standing on dirt ground within this arena. The two immediately looked behind themselves, as a metal fence now fell, blocking them off from the door they entered from earlier. They turned around again, now facing the opposite side of that, where there was a terrace that overlooked the arena, that had metal shutters on the bottom wall of it, where a certain red-haired kid that Komaru and Mukuro both recognized was now standing on. Behind him was a large dark hallway that led elsewhere behind him, with three yellow stars above it.

"Well look who showed up! You two totally fell for it! You two thought you could escape? But too bad! I totally saw that one coming! Nothing gets by me! The super-duper Hero of the Warriors of Hope! The Little Ultimate PE, Masaru Daimon!" Masaru boasted with glee as the crowd of Monokuma Kids cheered excitedly for him. "Thank you, thank you! You're all too kind, my awesome audience!"

"You're one of those kids!" Komaru shouted out, with a nervous face as she could feel tension start to build up again within her. "One of the ones on that airship!"

"He was also on that TV broadcast," Mukuro added, as she now recognized seeing the child from before as well, from said broadcast. "One of those so-called Warriors of Hope,"

"One of them!? Hey! I have a name that I just said out loud. My name is Masaru Daimon! Don't treat me like some chump. I'm the leader of the Warriors of Hope!" Masaru shouted out annoyed. He then had a smug expression appear on his face, for what he was about to say next. "I'm not like those adults who call themselves leaders but hide like cowards! The best leaders are the ones that stand bravely on the front lines!? Don't you forget it! Especially once I become king of this town!"

"King?" Mukuro asked as she rolled her eyes at what she just heard. "Look kid, you're not going to become king of anything, so please just stop all this nonsense you're doing,"

"Says the demon!" Masaru shouted back. "I'll teach you and every other demon that I'm not to be messed with! When I become king of Towa City, the first thing I'm going to do is order the best wiener dogs for me, my friends, and all the kids!"

"Wieners?" Mukuro said blankly, as this was the first time she had ever heard someone just say that word out loud like that.

"That's right! Wieners!" Masaru said with a huge smirk. Mukuro had a stoic expression form in response, not sure how to feel or what to say. "Speaking of wieners… did you freak out when the leader of the whole group just popped up like that!? Scary, right!? Just like I always say, stupid little girls with no wieners are total cowards!"

"Not at all," Mukuro said bluntly, while Masaru looked angry upon hearing that, as he huffed and puffed air in response, as he stomped in place.

"Well brace yourselves, you two demons with no wieners! Even if you show your tummy like a dog and beg for mercy, you're going to get it now!" Masaru taunted.

"Brace ourselves?" Komaru asked as she continued to have a bad feeling about this situation. "Why are you doing this? What is your reasons for all of this?"

"My reasons? Well sure I can tell you my reasons! The Hero always has a motive for what he does. I'll tell you what my motive is! All the adults are rotten demons, who'll bully and hurt those below to them! I vow to wipe out every demon who is in this city, so a children's paradise can truly begin!" Masaru proclaimed.

"But without adults, all of you children wouldn't even be here to begin with though," Mukuro pointed out. Masaru's facial expression turned serious and angry, as he replied to what he just heard.

"All that means is they just forced us all into this hell, called reality! Just because they gave birth to us and raised us, they thought they could control us all!" Masaru furiously responded. "Well I'm not dealing with that, anymore!"

"But one day you'll become an adult too, isn't that true?" Komaru asked curiously. "What happens then?"

"Ha! I won't become an adult! I made a promise with the other Warriors of Hope! I made a promise with Monaca... that if I'm going to turn into a dirty, mean, ugly, smelly demon, I'd rather die as a kid!" Masaru yelled out. Komaru felt extremely uneasy by what she was hearing.

"That doesn't make any sense at all," Mukuro stated calmly.

"Well of course it doesn't make sense to you! You're just a demon! Of course you wouldn't understand!" Masaru replied back. "I can't wait to kill every remaining demon in this city, and that includes you two!"

"Please stop! You don't want to do this!" Komaru shouted, feeling as if this was a nightmare she wanted to wake up from.

"Stop? When I'm having the time of my life? I don't think so!" Masaru answered back with a big smirk. "Seeing how long you two demons last against me, is making the Killoseums we had the Monokumas build, all worth it!"

"Killoseum?" Mukuro said confused out loud. "Isn't it coliseum?"

"Huh!?" Masaru said, as he couldn't stand being corrected, as he jumped up and down angrily, while Mukuro's face turned stoic as all she did was try to be technically correct. "Hey! I was just… testing you! To see if you dumb demons actually knew the right word! Well it doesn't matter! Especially when I add you two to the pile!"

Before the two teenage girls could question what exactly the pile was, Masaru snapped his fingers, and the terrace beneath him opened up and revealed a huge pile of dead adult corpses. Komaru felt she was about to throw up, as she looked away, while Mukuro gritted her teeth in response in anger, as she was definitely not going to let that happen to both of them. Masaru snapped his fingers again, as the shutter on the terrace closed up, showing no more of the horrific image.

"What… what was all of that!?" Komaru shrieked as she took a couple of steps back.

"You couldn't tell you dumb demon? They were other dumb demons! I bet with all of those, I got about a trillion Brazilian points by now!" Masaru answered with glee in his voice.

"Ugh… oh my god!" Komaru said as she controlled her urge to not throw up so hard, while Mukuro stood in front of Komaru, looking angry.

"Stop this nonsense now," Mukuro warned in a completely serious tone.

"No way! Hahahaha! You two are totally freaked out! But you know, before I add you two to that pile, why don't I rub some salt in the wound you two will end up having by the end? Bring out the special guest!" Masaru exclaimed. Two Monokuma Kids soon appeared on the back of the platform and they pushed a young male teenager who had his hands tied together with rope, and had gray duct tape over his mouth. He had tanned skin, was wearing a teal sports jacket, a white tank top shirt underneath, beige shorts, red sneakers and bright yellow socks. Mukuro recognized the boy as Yuta Asahina. Another one of the hostages, connected to her classmates. One of the two Monokuma Kids held a steel pipe and gave it to Masaru to wield who smirked viciously, while the other Monokuma Kid restrained Yuta. "I'm going to add this demon to the pile before you two!"

"Hey! You and your fellow Warriors of Hope said you wouldn't hurt any of the special guests staying here on that broadcast, if no one else from the Future Foundation showed up!" Mukuro yelled frustrated, while Komaru was surprised to hear that this boy was another hostage like her. Komaru also felt scared for the boy, seeing Masaru holding a steel pipe now.

"While it's true that we did… I changed my mind!" Masaru answered with a big smirk. He walked over to Yuta who looked scared beyond belief, as he ripped the duct tape off of Yuta's mouth, causing the male teenager to yelp in pain. "I'm the leader of the Warriors of Hope! I can do whatever I want!"

"Please don't do this!" Yuta pleaded with immense fear. Masaru ignored him as he approached the teenager who was shaking and sweating like crazy, while Masaru held the metal pipe with glee. Masaru was about to hit Yuta, till the teen suddenly used one of his legs to kick hard at the other boy, knocking him down, as it made contact with Masaru's left arm. Seeing this, the two Monokuma Kids on stage, immediately went up to Yuta and restrained him before he could run off the platform, as he thrashed about in their grip, still trying to escape the rope binding his hands and the two kids holding him. "I really didn't want to do that to you, so please stop!"

Masaru slowly got up and his eyes paled, as he clutched his left arm and he had a creepy look on his face, as if he were forcing a smile. Everyone in the arena area became quiet upon seeing Masaru like that, as it was an expression he had never expressed, at least to everyone present as he clutched hard at his arm, as memories from his past came back to him. Memories that involved his father. Whenever he would go home, his father would find any excuse to physically beat him. Even if it was something so minor as coughing in his father's presence while he was smoking. He would try to smile, whenever his father hit him, which only caused his father to beat him more as he thought it was abnormal and not normal at all. He then began to laugh in an eerie manner out loud, while Komaru and Yuta looked deathly afraid while Mukuro could see what was happening.

"It looks like he's having post traumatic stress disorder or something along those lines," Mukuro commented with a serious expression, as Masaru began to beat his right arm repeatedly with his left arm, and began to yell. Komaru and Yuta now looked really confused and scared by what they were seeing.

"I… I won't… be afraid! **I WON'T BE SCARED AT ALL!** The dark and the pain, the burns and the alcohol smell! Not anymore! **NOT ANYMORE! DON'T BEAT ME ANYMORE DAD!** I won't be afraid anymore! You hear me! **STOP! STOP DAMN IT!** " Masaru yelled out crazily as he continued his assault on his own arm, as dark and buried memories from his past, flooded his mind. The memories replaying the abuse he endured from his father growing up that scarred him mentally and emotionally still.

"Stop it! Please stop it!" Komaru shouted out frantically, appalled by what she was seeing, and feeling bad for the child now. Masaru however didn't listen as he kept hitting his left arm with his right one, as the sound of him striking his other arm was heard repeatedly. His face began to cry and sob as he did this as well.

The sound of him beating his own arm continued as Komaru had her own tears come out, Yuta looked freaked out and nervous, while Mukuro looked serious at the red haired kid. Masaru finally stopped when his other arm was noticeably bruised and darkened by his attack, making Komaru feel both saddened and emotional from what she saw, understanding that Masaru must have had a painful time growing up. Masaru began to take some long deep breaths, as he forced a smile on his face the whole time while doing this. While he took the time to breathe for a bit, Komaru kept pleading.

"We're… not going to hurt you," Komaru said, feeling bad for him. "Please… please calm down,"

"Komaru… trying to reason with this kid is… not going to work," Mukuro said, as Komaru looked towards her with a sad expression. "He's too far gone… look at everything he's done so far along with the other children."

"But…" Komaru said sadly. Before she could continue, she was interrupted as the kid who kept calling himself a hero, spoke up.

"You know what? Let's make this even more interesting! If you manage to defeat me, I'll let this demon I have here free," Masaru suddenly shouted, regaining his composure, as he pointed to Yuta, who was being restrained by the two Monokuma Kids now, who struggled against the two and on the rope still restraining his hands as well. Masaru threw away the metal pipe he was holding, not needing it anymore. The Monokuma Kids applied a new piece of duct tape to Yuta's mouth to keep him silent, as he had muffled screams occur as they taped his mouth again. "It should give you two more actual motivation if you want to stand a chance of defeating me!"

"Defeat you? I don't want to fight!" Komaru said feeling emotional, while Mukuro looked contemplative in comparison, as this was another chance of rescuing and securing another hostage, connected to her classmates.

"Well too bad! Enough fooling around. It's time I really take you two girly demons down!" Masaru yelled out, as he snapped his fingers. Another Monokuma Kid soon appeared on the platform he was standing and held what appeared to be a portable remote controller with straps that one could wear over there shoulders, as it had two large joysticks and a button that resembled the head of a Monokuma. Masaru pressed the button, wore the controller, and grinned viciously as he was now more determined than ever to do this, while all the Monokuma Kids in the audience began to cheer loudly and wildly again, for Masaru. "Meet Mark Guyver! Time to die demons!"

Komaru and Mukuro felt the ground beneath them shaking, as Komaru felt herself flailing about, while Mukuro steadied herself. Soon enough in the center of the arena a huge robot bursted out of the dirt ground and leaped in front of the platform where, Masaru was. It was a large white armored robot that looked like something out of a mecha anime. It had two large golden drills as its hands, pink glowing glass mech eyes, a golden crown like piece on its head, golden knee metal knee pads, huge steel gray metal boots, a black and white chest plate that resembled a Monokuma, and the Japanese characters for the word Hero, painted in red, on the back of the mech robot. It was the Hero Robot Mark Guyver, and Masaru was the one controlling it.

"Can we really beat this thing!?" Komaru asked Mukuro nervously, as she felt her face starting to get sweaty again, as she began to back away, before Mukuro grabbed her in place.

"Well... I could shoot a bullet into Masaru so we don't even need to fight this robot," Mukuro suggested while Komaru's face paled from hearing that. "But since we're going by your suggestion to not harm any kids… the way I see it, I think we can."

"But a giant killer robot!?" Komaru said with a panicky expression.

"We've fought and defeated a bunch of Monokumas already, which are killer robots. What's another killer robot, except it's bigger, this time around?" Mukuro asked. "Your gun is still effective against machines. We're going to take it down and we'll be fine,"

Komaru nodded slowly back a bit to the black haired girl, as Mukuro didn't seem phased by this killer robot at all, whose confidence was comforting to her. Mukuro turned to face the robot as she drew out one of her handguns and reloaded its ammo, while Komaru pulled out her Hacking Gun and took a defensive stance, as she faced the machine. They both took a combative stance towards the mech while Masaru smirked (though he still wondered why Komaru was holding a megaphone still).

"Hey! Watch me everyone! The Leader of the Warriors of Hope! The Hero! Today I'm going to defeat these wiener-less demons in no time!" Masaru boasted as the crowd cheered wildly for him once more. "Go Hero Robot Mark Guyver! Go kill these filthy demons!"

Masaru began piloting the robot with his controls, as the Mark Guyver mech stomped towards both girls, making its way towards them. Komaru seeing this immediately decided to shoot back.

"Break!" Komaru shouted out, as she shot a blue break bullet towards the robot's head. As soon as it made contact however, nothing happened. "Huh!? It's not working?"

"Whatever that was, can't compare to the awesome might of my Hero Robot! Take them down! Super Piercing Drill Punch!" Masaru shouted out, as if he were some shonen anime hero. His robot readied its right drill arm, as it reared back, ready to slam it's right drill into them. Seeing this, both girls ran out of the way, as it struck the ground hard and slammed its drill into the dirt ground. "Stay still!"

"How come my break bullet had no effect Mukuro?" Komaru asked, as they ran to put some distance between themselves and Masaru's robot.

"It's networking is probably more advanced compared to the Monokuma robots." Mukuro answered back, as the two were running. "It's probably more immune to your electromagnetic bullets, compared to the regular Monokuma robots,"

"Does this mean that my Hacking Gun is useless?" Komaru asked worried.

"No. It should have a weakness like the Monokuma Robots. It's still a robot like them," Mukuro answered back. "If we can find the weak point, then we can take it down,"

"But where's the weak point?" Komaru asked and was curious about, as she couldn't do any damage to the Mark Guyver mech if she didn't know the weakness.

"I'm not sure yet, though I have a sneaking suspicion," Mukuro said back, as she noticed that the drill arm that wasn't in the dirt ground, was covering the black and white chest plate on its torso. "That robot is covering its chest plate despite the chest plate being something that should already be armored,"

"Oh! You're right!" Komaru said. By this point, the robot got it's drill arm out of the ground and looked towards the two girls again. "Maybe it's the chest plate?"

"I think so. So you'll need to get it when it's exposed," Mukuro answered. Both Komaru and Mukuro heard Masaru yell out again.

"Maybe something stylish will get you two! Style's more important after all!" Masaru yelled out. "Mark Guyver! Show them your spinning!"

The robot had both its arms stretched out and began to spin rapidly in place, as if it were a top. It began to spin itself towards the teenagers. Seeing this, Mukoro quickly looked around and saw the fence behind her, that blocked off the arena from the audience bleachers where the Monokuma Kids were watching the fight. Acting fast and without giving Komaru any warning, she grabbed her and threw her near the top of the large fence, with Komaru screaming in surprise. Mukuro quickly leaped, grabbed, and climbed onto the fence herself as the Hero Robot acting like a top almost ran into them. Sparks flew beneath them, as the robot hit the lower part of the fence they were on, making a hole into it. The Mark Guyver mech leaped back in front of the terrace where Masaru stood on still. Both Komaru and Mukuro then leapt back to the ground below.

"Hey! Don't dodge my attacks!" Masaru whined, as he threw a temper tantrum while Komaru looked concerned while Mukuro looked annoyed. Masaru gritted his teeth in frustration. "Looks like I'll have to go directly at you two if I want to a chance of winning this! Special move! Mega Drive Drill!"

The robot held both of its arms forward and while doing so, exposed its black and white chest piece. Komaru immediately fired multiple shots of Break bullets towards the mech as they all made contact. As she did so, she noticed the machine would visibly shake, unlike when she shot her break bullet before at it. Unforutnately it was still coming straight right at her, as her eyes became fearful. Mukuro however quickly took aim and fired a bullet from one of her handguns, and shot its left pink glass eye. The machine immediately stopped its charge as Masaru growled in frustration, as the machine recoiled back.

"That's no fair!" Masaru said annoyed. "Demons shouldn't have handguns!"

"Now Komaru! Shoot a dance bullet into its chest piece!" Mukuro shouted to Komaru, who only looked back at her confused.

"What!?" Komaru said confused.

"It should work, just like the break bullet!" Mukuro shouted. Komaru nodded, deciding to do what Mukuro suggested, as she soon fired a pink dance bullet at Mark Guyver's chest piece. Soon enough the giant robot began to awkwardly dance in place, as all the Monokuma Kids watching, began to laugh at the sight while Masaru felt a blank expression on his face pop up. "See? Just like that Monokuma robot from before Komaru,"

"You're right!" Komaru said feeling better and a bit more confident, that she made Masaru's mech do that. Masaru himself was still at a loss from what he was seeing.

"Hey! What's with that… megaphone gun thing!?" Masaru questioned curiously as he finally decided to comment on it, due to the dancing he was seeing. He pulled the levers on his controls, and growled in frustration as it seemed his Hero Robot mech was too busy dancing still. "Come on! Gah! Once I kill you two and get the high score, I'm going to be the champ! Then I'll be a part of our children's paradise, and get to be with Monaca!"

"Now's the time to be attacking back while it's like this Komaru!" Mukuro shouted out, as Komaru nodded. She switched back to blue break bullets and began to fire rapidly at the Hero Robot's chest plate. Masaru seeing this gritted his teeth in anger and frustration, as he slammed on his remote controller even more, hoping his robot would finally start moving again. It finally did, but just as the chest plate on his mech robot finally broke apart and exposed a red flashing core for it.

"You dumbass demons! Now you're really going to get it!" Masaru shouted out. The Mark Guyver mech leapt back in front of Masaru's terrace, as he had the robot use its left drill arm cover its red core while its right drill arm was aimed towards Komaru who was standing in place. Masaru just smirked as he commanded his robot to do a new function, while Mukuro immediately saw what he was trying to do. Mukuro immediately ran and leaped towards Komaru to knock her out of the way, as the Mark Guyver's right drill fired with a huge chain attached to it and struck the ground where Komaru was previously standing, as both girls picked themselves off the ground nearby.

"Hahahahaha! How do you like Mark Guyver's Drill Chain Shot!? And the best part is, that I can keep covering my robot's core with his other arm, and keep firing at you with the arm that's not covering it!" Masaru boasted with a big smirk. The drill and the chain that was attached to that struck into the ground where Komaru was previously standing, slowly began to retract back into its proper drill arm. Mukuro noted that it seemed to take a bit before the drill would fully retract back into its arm fully. "All I have to do is keep this up till you two tire out like the dumbass demons you two are, and then go for the kills! I'll be the winner by the end of this!"

The Mark Guyver aimed its right drill arm again, this time at where both Mukuro and Komaru stood. It fired, leading to both girls quickly dodging out of the way as the drill missed again. It slowly began to retract again and Komaru whispered to Mukuro concerned.

"He's right Mukuro. Our stamina isn't going to last forever." Komaru whispered with worry.

"All we have to do is get that robot to expose its core," Mukuro whispered back as she tried to think of ways to do it. "Right now, he's having one of his robot's arms cover its core. All we have to do is get him to use both its arms at the same time, which will expose it,"

"But how? I don't think he's going to expose his robot's core, no matter what," Komaru asked with both curiosity and concern. Mukuro looked towards Masaru and saw that he was still smirking, as he had regained his composure. She then thought of the perfect idea as she yelled out the following.

"Hey kid! You're no hero at all!" Mukuro yelled out while Komaru's face panicked wondering what she was doing. Masaru hearing this briefly blinked before getting huffy and puffy, as he got mad from hearing that.

"What did you say, demon!?" Masaru angrily yelled back out, as he had his Mark Guyver mech target Mukuro only, as it fired its right drill again, but missed as she dodge rolled out of the way. "And my name is Masaru Daimon!"

"You heard me! You probably don't even deserve to be the leader of the Warriors of Hope!" Mukuro shouted out with a smirk as the robot's right drill retracted back into its arm, while Masaru began to grit his teeth again from what he heard.

"Why you… shut up you dumbass demon!" Masaru yelled out angrily, as he actually began to pout. He had his robot shoot at Mukuro again from anger, but missed as Mukuro dodged it again.

"Mukuro!? What are you doing? You're just making him madder!" Komaru asked confused and feeling sweat dripping from her face again from fear. Mukuro ignored the other girl as she continued to taunt and insult the boy.

"I bet you just got the position of leader through something really stupid like rock, paper, or scissors or something!" Mukuro taunted. If this was a cartoon, steam would be popping out of Masaru's head as he heard this as his face was starting to get red like his hair. He had his mech fire its right drill again at her, but just like the few last times, she dodged it with ease.

" **STAY STILL DEMON!** " Masaru yelled out frustrated. " **AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE LEADER, FAIR AND SQUARE! I AM THE HERO WHO ALWAYS WINS!** "

"Some leader and hero then. Can't even hit a demon he's hunting with his giant mech. No wonder you got treated the way you did by your dad." Mukuro taunted now in a serious tone, as Masaru was now at his breaking point. "Pathetic,"

"Mukuro!?" Komaru yelled out both surprised and taken back, as she felt that was going too far.

"I'll show you pathetic, you mean mouthy dumbass demon!" Masaru yelled out with rage, as he lost control of his emotional state. Letting his emotion cloud his thinking, he had both drill arms aimed now towards Mukuro and fired both drills from both its drill arms towards Mukuro. The soldier seeing this, immediately dodged backwards as both drills struck the ground she formerly stood on. She smirked upon seeing the core was fully exposed now, while Masaru slowly realized what he had just done, as his face began to sweat from fear.

"Focus on the core now Komaru!" Mukuro shouted to the other girl. The younger teenager girl blinked her eyes briefly before realizing what had just happened. She readied the Hacking Gun once more as she aimed it straight at the core with it set to use break bullets. Masaru panicked as he saw that his robot's drills were still retracting back into its arms, still leaving its core exposed and vulnerable, as he couldn't move the mech till both the chains retracted the drills back fully into both their arms. Komaru began to fire break bullets rapidly at the core, and the whole robot shook more violently then before, compared to when it's chest piece was being shot at.

"No, no, no, no, **NO!** " Masaru howled very emotionally as his teeth began to chatter from fear from what he was seeing, and he began to violently shake, as he shook the joysticks on his remote controller wildly, in some vain attempt to make the drills retract faster back into their arms. But it was no use, as his robot began to have smoke start to expel from it. "I'm the hero! The hero isn't supposed to lose! The hero is always supposed to win over the bad guys! I'm the leader of the Warriors of Hope! That has to mean something! **THAT HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING RIGHT!?** "

The Mark Guyver mech began to short circuit as electricity crackled through it, and soon small explosions started to pop up from it. Masaru's own remote controller began to short circuit, as he quickly took it off and threw it into the arena as he gritted his teeth from anger and sadness now. Mukuro and Komaru began to move as far as they could from the mech, as a tornado of fire enveloped it from all the damage it sustained. It soon ended with a bang, as a huge explosion rocked the machine, scattering its charred metal remains all over. The metal fence that blocked the way Mukuro and Komaru came into the arena, now raised itself, allowing the two to exit.

The two Monokuma Kids who were restraining Yuta released him. Masaru didn't notice as he was too distraught by what was happening, as Yuta leaped towards the arena, and ran towards where Komaru and Mukuro were, not wanting to be near Masaru. Mukuro carefully used one of her knives to remove the rope binding Yuta's hands, and Komaru carefully removed the new duct tape covering his mouth. Once Yuta was freed of both rope and duct tape, the three then looked back at Masaru, still standing on the terrace.

Masaru was now using his right arm to clutch his left one, as he breathed heavily. All the Monokuma Kids watching from the bleachers who were watching the fight, had now appeared behind Masaru from the entranceway he used, to be on top of the terrace. Masaru's face turned blue and sweated with intense fear. They all reached their hands out for him, as they grabbed onto him. Masaru began to scream for dear life as they slowly swarmed on top of him while Komaru, Mukuro, and Yuta watched on in horror. Soon he was gone from view as the only thing that seemingly remained of him was his white headset that popped off the top of his head, as the sounds of him being beaten started to begin.

"What… what are they doing to him?" Komaru asked with pure horror on her face.

"Because he lost to us… maybe he's deemed… no longer needed," Mukuro answered quietly.

"No…" Komaru said horrified beyond belief. Yuta in the meantime was shaking with fear from the sight he saw, as he spoke to the two girls.

"Can we please get out of here? This whole thing is scary beyond belief!" Yuta said with a nervous expression on his face.

"But what about Masaru!?" Komaru said with teary eyes, as she felt bad for the child, despite everything.

"He's right. Remaining here is pointless. Also in my opinion, there's no point in saving him. He chose his fate when he chose to fight us, instead of handling this peacefully," Mukuro said bluntly. "Plus there's no way I can get through all of those kids without risking hurting any of them. You were the one who told me not to fight against any of them before,"

"I know but... but still!" Komaru said with sadness present in her being. "This doesn't feel right at all!"

"It is, what it is Komaru." Mukuro said as she began to walk away. Yuta immediately followed after Mukuro while Komaru hesitated. She turned to look at the mob of Monokuma Kids for one last time, as the sounds of Masaru being beaten was still heard. Komaru then turned around and hurried after Yuta and Mukuro.

* * *

The three teenagers found themselves back out on the street above again. The three were silent, unsure of what to say. Yuta finally decided to break the silence as he began to spoke.

"Hey... you two girls. Thank you two, for saving me. Its been forever since I've seen some normal people around," Yuta slowly and calmly said as he extended his hand to Komaru. "My name's Yuta. Yuta Asahina,"

"My name's Komaru Naegi. Nice to meet you Yuta," Komaru answered with a smile as she slowly nodded back, happy to see that at the very least that some new good news had finally emerged. That another hostage being held in this city was confirmed to be safe like her. The two shook hands for a while till Mukuro let out a cough and glared at Yuta, signalling that they should end it, as Yuta seemed to not get, you should stop shaking hands at some point, and not go on forever. She didn't know why but she felt as if Komaru shouldn't be getting into any significant relationships outside of her family yet, like an older sister would for a younger one, as she tried to shoo away Yuta from being too touchy. She shook the thought away, as she was sure that wasn't the case, and maybe it was her being a bit overly cautious, or some sisterly feeling kicking in, since Komaru was younger then her.

Yuta stopped and looked away as he tried to hide a blush, while Mukuro pulled out her small notepad, and flipped to the page where she wrote the list of hostages being held in Towa City. She checked off Yuta's name with her pencil, as she sighed in relief herself. She was glad that Yuta was cooperative compared to Yukimura, though she still hoped that trouble making teen was still alright, and wondered where he was, along with the so called Resistance Base he mentioned, and who or what that one nice white bear was. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Yuta speak.

"Can I borrow your pencil?" Yuta asked to Mukuro.

"Hmmm? Why?" Mukuro asked, wondering why he would need it.

"If you really want to remember a name, you write it down on your palm three times! I want to remember Komaru's name!" Yuta replied in response. Mukuro let him borrow it, as he just wrote Komaru's name on his right hand three times. "And what's your name?"

"Mukuro Ikusaba," Mukuro answered bluntly. Yuta then wrote her name down on his left hand three times. He then handed it back to her.

"Thank you! Also thanks for saving me from that red haired kid!" Yuta said to her, with a big happy grin.

"Don't think much of it." Mukuro answered calmly. Komaru then asked a question as she was curious about something from Yuta.

"Did a bunch of people in Monokuma masks kidnap you?" Komaru asked, as she recalled the day she was kidnapped herself. Yuta's eyes lit up as he nodded.

"Yeah! It was a bunch of adults wearing Monokuma masks!" Yuta answered. "I remember that I was in my house and I was about to go to our families indoor swimming pool to do some laps, when they showed up. Then I somehow ended up in this city and that's all I remember,"

"I see," Komaru asked as Yuta nodded, wondering about it more. "That's no good. Anyway… where do the three of us go from here? The subway turned out to be a trap. Where else can we really go?"

"Hmmm… I wonder... also that's new," Mukuro simply said, as Komaru looked confused back at her. Mukuro pointed toward the other subway station, which now didn't have debris and rubble blocking the entrance to it nearby.

"Huh? Isn't that… if I remember right, that place should have been buried in rubble, right?" Komaru asked.

"The entrance to that subway over there was blocked before?" Yuta asked as Komaru nodded to the boy.

"For whatever reason, it looks as if the debris was cleared away while we were fighting Masaru," Mukuro replied, wondering about it herself.

"Than we can get to the subway from there!" Komaru shouted happily as she then grabbed Mukuro's hands with a big smirk. Mukuro had an awkward expression appear on her face as she released her hands from Komaru's and frowned.

"I don't know. Seems too convenient." Mukuro pondered out loud.

"That is a good point. It could be another trap," Komaru replied with a worried expression. "But if you think about it, something that's obviously not a trap, might not be a trap, right!?"

"Well… the previous trap led to us saving Yuta, so I say it's worth the risk," Mukuro replied. "Well if we go, mentally prepare yourself Komaru. I now have two teenagers younger then me to take care of. I want to make sure you two are ready whenever,"

"I'm ready and raring to go! Anywhere from that place I was just in, is an improvement!" Yuta said confidently.

"It's going to be fine Mukuro," Komaru said with a big smile. Hearing that, Mukuro just nodded to her. "Well we should begin walking... and talking. I'm sure we have a lot of questions for Yuta, and he has questions for us as well,"

"Agreed," Mukuro answered as she walked forward to the new entrance, thinking about Makoto wondering how he was doing back at headquarters while Komaru and Yuta followed after her. While this was happening, on a rooftop of a building nearby was something watching them. It appeared to be a fully white Monokuma that had a white bandage wrapped over its left red eye, and two bandages in the shape of an X, on its right cheek. This peculiar Monokuma soon began to walk away, heading elsewhere.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **So how was it? Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. That puzzle that Mukuro and Komaru solve at the puzzle was modified from the original. In the original game, you're suppose to figure out the password based on different hair painted, but in this one it's based off the four symbols on the Playstation systems.**

 **2\. Yuta was not being held hostage by Masaru in the original game. Yuta instead had a different fate and was met at a different location in the game, that being the bridge that gets blown up.**

 **3\. Masaru's mech, the Mark Guyver mech is named after a famous action adventure American TV show, where the main protagonist MacGuyver, is known for being the hero.**

 **4\. Masaru's mech robot also had one new attack being when it fires its drill at them with the chain attached, as that was not in the original boss fight.**

 **5\. Our little leader, actually became leader due to winning a game of rock, paper, and scissors in the end.**

 **6\. Both Siren and Junk Monokumas are also new types that only appear in this game as well.**

 **7\. At the end of every chapter in Danganronpa Another Episode in the original game (which normally happens after each main boss fight for that chapter), you get ranked depending on how well you played that chapter. While this happens Toko has some pretty wild fantasies of Byakuya, with her active imagination. That's not happening here as Toko and Byakuya are both safe in Future Foundation Headquarters already, and Mukuro would not go that far with Makoto, thinking of him in that kind of fantasy like manner... probably.**

 ** **Well that should be it for now. As usual, if you have anything you want to say, point out, criticize, and so on, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. Till the next chapter!****


	8. Masked Hate & A White Bear

**We are finally at Chapter 8! I'll address the reviews for the previous chapters, before moving on as usual.**

 **So Luckhenhaft, Chihiro wants to join the Naegi family tree it seems. Actually it seems most of Class 78 wants to join the Naegi family tree, considering what was said about Asahina towards the end there as well. Izuru and Zombie Chiaki dealing with some Nier related shenanigans from the looks of it, Mukuro and Komaru recruited some new party members and got more manga, Junko and Class 77 are still up to some crazy stuff (Sonia and Gundham taking out Ruruka is quite the thing, and what a crazy strong baby), mass murder occurred with adults, and Hifumi's work has been put on hold for now. Interesting stuff as usual.**

 **Skinnypichu88, Mukuro didn't rat out Chisa, because she feels that would make things more complicated and the situation in general a lot harder then it needs to be. Especially when you consider Munakata's relationship with Chisa.**

 **FredFuchs86, so I have done as you have asked, and watched the video you recommended. Thank you as I appreciate the advice, and I'll definitely keep in mind what I saw for the future in general.**

 **Knight of Balance has brought up some things I'll address. So yes I will definitely try my best to to keep those things in mind. I do have plans for future chapters to show what you mentioned at points, regarding Mukuro and Junko, both Shirokuma and Kurokuma, and Mukuro's appearance. Whether it be soon or later on, these will get addressed hopefully. Thank you and the others for reviewing.**

 **I want to bring up one point before moving onto this chapter proper. As of right now, Danganronpa V3 is finally now out elsewhere, besides Japan. I have recently played and completed it, and I felt the need to address this quick. I will not include anything from Danganronpa V3 into this story, as it's a very recent release and I don't want to spoil any details to anyone who has yet to play it, and plans to do so. This story will still be taking elements from the other parts of the series though, just not Danganronpa V3. So nothing from V3 will be in this story.**

 **With that out of the way, I thank everyone for reading and reviewing my story so far. I hope you are all enjoying everything so far, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

We see a room that was being lit with candles. There was a wooden funeral shrine being built nearby that had the smell of incense going off, and a picture frame of Masaru on top of it. Jataro, Kotoko, and Monaca were all present and accounted for as the three had their eyes closed and were praying for the now apparently deceased Masaru, while Nagisa stood away from the other three wondering if Masaru was actually dead. All of them except Nagisa repeated the words "may his soul rest in peace," for a bit of time. The lights soon went on in the room, as they had the candles put out, as Monaca apparently began to "cry," as she closed her eyes and rubbed them with her hands. They all apparently received a report from the Monokuma Kids that Masaru was dead, which is why they were in their current location, which was a large throne like room with black and white square tiles, a blue carpet laid in front of a large red throne chair in an unknown location.

"Oh Masaru. We hardly knew you," Monaca said, as she 'sounded' sad as she grieved. "May your soul rest in heaven… or down in the fiery place. Wherever you ended up,"

"He always acted big and was a perverted idiot… but he fixed the air conditioner, the chairs and tables… I'm going to miss having him around," Kotoko whined sadly.

"Actually… I fixed those…" Jataro sadly said out. But he was ignored as Kotoko continued to speak.

"Anyway… he's dead now and nothing is going to bring him back!" Kotoko whined, as she kept talking.

"I should have been the one who died. I'm the hated one and that's how it feels anyway. Instead of our leader Masaru… who's now dead," Jataro said sadly out loud.

"Huh… Masaru was our leader… well he only became leader because he won a game of rock, paper, and scissors anyway. He was kind of an annoying guy who constantly bragged about being our leader and… I'm kind of glad he's gone, now that I think about it," Kotoko said, as she pondered the thought. "It's not like we couldn't get the Monokumas to fix stuff. Automation and all. Plus that's one less person to deal with in competing as well,"

"But he was still our leader though," Monaca pointed out. She soon 'cried,' tears as she wailed loudly and put her hands to her eyes.

"Well if Monaca is going to cry, then so will I," Kotoko said as she repeated Monaca's actions. "Wahhhh! You shouldn't have died Masaru! I miss you already!"

"Ugh… if only I died first, then Masaru wouldn't have died. I'm such a useless loser," Jataro cried out with more self-deprecation as usual.

"But Masaru's body was never found though according to the reports," Nagisa said, as he pointed that out. Everyone looked towards him curiously when he said this. "I mean… I'm just saying we don't have official confirmation he died. His status is still unknown. That's all,"

"You don't think… Masaru died, Nagisa?" Monaca asked, with a childlike curious voice and tone.

"It's just… his body is still missing though," Nagisa said. "His body was never found,"

"You know Nagisa… you know how when you watch the news and they say a person is missing?" Monaca brought up, while Nagisa looked confused upon listening to her. "You probably know in the back of your head, that person is most likely dead. At least that's how I always thought of it. I mean if someone is missing to you and never show up to you again, then it has the same effect of that person being dead, at least to you,"

"Well… we don't have evidence that proves he died and I rather we have proof before saying he died. If we don't confirm it for ourselves…" Nagisa said, but Monaca however interrupted him.

"No. It would be pointless. Our precious Masaru… he's returned to the Earth now," Monaca answered.

"But… we should have someone look into it. Just in case… right Monaca?" Nagisa said back, as he felt a bit nervous as he normally did not like to question Monaca whenever he spoke to her. Monaca however, was not pleased by what she heard.

" **IT'S GOING TO BE USELESS! MASARU IS DEAD! HE IS PLAYING SPORTS IN HEAVEN OR DOWN THERE NOW! HE IS DEAD!"** Monaca yelled out, as she threw a temper tantrum, as she flailed her arms angrily and her wheelchair beneath her shook, just like previous temper tantrums.

"Wow Nagisa! I didn't know you would ever make Monaca mad!" Kotoko said with a mischievous face, as she was aware that Nagisa had a crush on Monaca. "Especially considering everything in the past between you two,"

"Now Nagisa is going to be the most hated one? Today is not my day," Jataro whined, while Nagisa's face felt pressure within him build up. "I even built Masaru's memorial, but if he's not even dead, it'll be a waste of time even for me,"

"Wait, hold on! Maybe… Masaru is dead then." Nagisa said, trying to not lose face and favor among his companions. "I take back what I said. Masaru is… dead."

Monaca calmed down upon hearing this, while Nagisa sighed in relief as he was thankful Monaca was not feeling frustrated with him anymore.

"Now that Monaca feels better, she also feels like telling Nagisa some good news she has for him!" Monaca said cheerfully. "Now that Masaru is dead, you can take over as leader!"

"Leader?" Nagisa said, both confused and intrigued by what he was hearing from Monaca. "You want me to take over as leader?"

"Yeah! You be a great leader! With your smarts, you're probably going to be better than… what's his name?" Monaca said, as it seemed she already stopped pretending to care about Masaru at this point. "Anyway, would you like to take over as leader, Nagisa?"

"Myself as leader… very well then," Nagisa answered calmly. "I suppose I can take it upon myself, to be the new leader,"

"Yay! Nagisa is the new leader" Monaca proudly proclaimed with a grin. "Alright then. I have great expectations of you Nagisa, and knowing how smart you are, you'll do great!"

"Yeah… I suppose I will," Nagisa said, taking this information in, smiling slightly, to hear Monaca say this of him.

"Let's keep playing the demon hunting game then!" Monaca suggested.

"But… shouldn't we start focusing on our children's paradise project?" Nagisa asked back. "Priorities and all,"

"That sounds like someone who thinks like an adult Nagisa," Monaca said, and suddenly silence in the room occurred.

"Adult?" Kotoko said seriously, as she eyed Nagisa with skepticism.

"You're an adult, Nagisa!?" Jataro said with a mixture of surprise and a bit of contempt in his voice.

"No! No I'm not!" Nagisa said, angrily flustered. "I rather die as a kid then become an adult!"

"Then… do you want to keep the game going, Nagisa?" Monaca asked in a cute tone of voice.

"Alright I… I have no further objections I suppose. The game will keep going for now," Nagisa stated out loud.

"Yay! Thank you Nagisa! Now Monaca has to go elsewhere to take care of some business. Bye!" Monaca said as she wheeled herself off to another room. Jataro put on a thinking expression, as he waited for Monaca to be gone from the room completely before deciding to make a comment.

"You know… I wonder where Monaca goes. She has a lot of moments where she has to go somewhere," Jataro said out loud. "Maybe… she's got bathroom problems?"

"Ewwww! Our Monaca does not do number one or number two!" Kotoko said with a disgusted expression while Nagisa pretended he didn't hear that with rolled eyes. "She's just probably really thirsty and she needs to… drink a lot or something! That reminds me, where's our milkshakes from our servant!?"

The three in the room had ordered milkshakes earlier, prior to Masaru's funeral, and were waiting for their servant to get back to them. Just as Kotoko said that, Nagito entered the room, holding a tray with what appeared to be three glass milkshake cups holding what appeared to be milkshakes. One milkshake being vanilla, one milkshake being chocolate, and one milkshake being strawberry.

"As you three requested. A milkshake for each of you, as specified for each of your particular taste." Nagito said as he handed Nagisa the vanilla milkshake, Jataro the chocolate milkshake, and Kotoko the strawberry milkshake. "I hope you all enjoy it,"

"You better still be wearing that mitten. I rather your putrid hand didn't make our milkshake," Nagisa answered back. Nagito in response showed that he was indeed wearing his mitten still. "Now a part of me wonders if I want to consume my milkshake. Has your hand healed at all since we've given you some anti swelling cream and an ice bag?"

"Somewhat. Want to see?" Nagito answered playfully as he slowly pulled off his mitten, before they could say anything. The three Warriors of Hope in the room, mentally braced themselves as they thought it look the same as it did before. However, once the mitten was off, they noticed that it wasn't as swollen and red as compared to before. It was still far from being fully healed, but it was an improvement.

"While it's not as bad as before, the knowledge of your hand still being like that is still revolting," Nagisa said annoyed. "I think I'll pass on my milkshake. But to not let it go to waste… dump it on yourself so at least I can get some pleasure to see that it was used,"

"Good idea Nagisa! But I'm still going to drink mine, as I'm rather thirsty still," Kotoko answered, as she began to drink her strawberry milkshake. "Not bad for an adult servant! Sugary sweet strawyberry,"

"I'm going to drink mine too. Chocolate milkshakes are too good to pass up," Jataro said as he was really thirsty, as he already began to sip his milkshake with a straw. "I'm already an ugly kid, so having someone with an ugly hand making me an ugly milkshake is alright,"

"I suppose that I'll just enjoy the fruits of my labor and have my vanilla milkshake dumped upon myself," Nagito said with a laugh, apparently not minding at all. He took Nagisa's milkshake and promptly spilled it atop his head. Jataro and Kotoko immediately began to laugh wildly, and Nagisa smirked satisfied by what he saw. "I am a servant, as I live to serve after all,"

"Good thing our servant can make a good court jester as well," Nagisa remarked, as Nagito walked away wiping away the milkshake that was on him. Nagito however was just smiling to himself.

"Well they say the court jester can be a joker, which is the wild card. A card one should always be aware of at all times," Nagito whispered to himself with high confidence as he began to smirk. Jataro finished his milkshake and enjoyed the taste. Nagito left the room leaving the three remaining Warriors of Hope inside.

"Anyway… I suppose now that I'm the leader, I suggest we keep going with Monaca's suggestion to keep this game going," Nagisa suggested.

"Are you just saying that because Monaca made you leader?" Kotoko teased, while Nagisa became flustered from hearing that.

"No! I have a perfectly logical explanation for this! With this game, Monaca can send a message to all the adults in Towa City that we children are not to be underestimated with, and we can get rid of them as well," Nagisa explained. "While I would like to get started building our paradise sooner, doing this game, is still beneficial to us as well,"

"Is that so? Well I don't mind either way," Kotoko answered back. "Building our paradise, or getting rid of more of those nasty demons, is a sweet win-win situation either way for me."

"Very well. Kotoko, Jataro, as your new leader, I wish you two the best in catching more demons," Nagisa stated calmly.

"If that's the case, I'm going to head off. I'm going to go after that demon worth a lot points. Since Masaru is gone, maybe I can win this game as well now… maybe," Jataro said as he began to leave the room. "I also better remember to brush my teeth… kill that special demon… take a poop later…"

* * *

Mukuro, Komaru, and Yuta descended down the stairs of the new subway entrance as they found themselves in an actual proper subway area. Yuta was drinking from a water bottle, and eating from a box of raisins, as he felt quite famished, especially after what happened. They were in an area with the subway fare machines, gates, and information booths to be exact, that was currently deserted. Yuta found himself looking at Komaru while the teenager girl was oblivious to the looks she was receiving from him, while Mukuro was in the front, looking around to see if there was any Monokumas or anything dangerous in general around.

"Hopefully the subway system is working. I really don't want to walk along the tracks in the future, if they aren't," Komaru pointed out.

"Well if you get too tired, let me carry you Komaru!" Yuta suggested, as he finished his water bottle and raisins and disposed of them in a nearby trash can. Komaru thought that was sweet, while Mukuro rolled her eyes (though a part of her wanted to be carried by Makoto now, with the thought in her mind. It helped she carried Makoto back when they were stuck in Hope's Peak Academy), as she coughed and cleared her throat to grab everyone else's attention.

"Well let's try to find out," Mukuro said as the three ventured further even more down, and found themselves in the actual subway tunnels area, after walking more stairs even further down, from the subway information booth area. The three noticed that all the subway trains were out of order and that the only electricity seemed to be for any electronic ads around in general.

"Doesn't look like the subway trains are running at the moment," Komaru said disappointingly. Mukuro closed her eyes as she debated what to do next, as Komaru and Yuta stood around. Yuta then decided to take the opportunity to ask a question.

"Say Komaru, why are you wearing that black metal wristband?" Yuta asked.

"Those Warriors of Hope put it on me. They said if I tamper with it… it'll go boom," Komaru answered sadly. "It's one of the reasons why I'm trying to escape with Mukuro. The organization she works for can remove it safely hopefully,"

"Do you two want to be brought out of the city now?" Mukuro decided to ask. Both Komaru and Yuta's eye lit up from hearing that, as it sounded very appealing to them.

"Really? But I thought you wanted to save all the people you were going to rescue first before we all head out of this city?" Komaru asked curiously.

"I'm thinking it might be safer to get you two out of Towa City now, then come back for the other hostages," Mukuro replied back. "For every hostage I rescue, I can head back here and then head back to Towa City to rescue another one. Then I can repeat the process till all of the hostages I intend to save are out of here,"

"That sounds great!" Yuta said happily. "Well I say we head down this tunnel right away then, if that's the case!"

"What made you decide to change your strategy Mukuro?" Komaru asked curiously.

"Considering how Yukimura was, it made me consider that the other hostages might just be as volatile as well possibly and I may need to reconsider how I handle some things." Mukuro answered as she began to walk and talk down the subway train tracks with both Komaru and Yuta following. "Don't get me wrong, I rather get all of you out at once then this method, but it's not like I have a place where I can safely store all of you till then,"

"What about that Resistance Base that Yukimura mentioned?" Komaru mentioned while Mukuro pondered on that while Yuta looked confused, wondering who this Yukimura was and what this Resistance Base was exactly.

"Who's Yukimura? And what do you mean by Resistance Base?" Yuta asked.

"Well let's start with who Yukimura was. He was another hostage like us Yuta," Komaru answered. "But… he kind of ran away from us,"

"Huh? Why would he run away from you two?" Yuta asked confused and a bit surprised to hear that. "Especially considering Mukuro is trying to rescue everyone,"

"Apparently, he has a phobia of women for whatever reasons," Mukuro stated bluntly, still annoyed by what happened before while Yuta had an awkward expression form from hearing that. "Actually, that brings to mind a question. Did you see a young teenager wearing a biker jacket, and wielding a pickaxe at all?"

"No. I never ran into someone like that at all," Yuta answered. "So far in my time in this city, I haven't run into anyone else in general really. Only Monokumas, kids wearing those Monokuma helmets, that red haired kid, and then you two. That was why I was so happy to be saved by you two, since you two were the first normal people I ran into, like I said before,"

"I see," Mukuro replied, thinking about what she heard. "Well that's fine. Knowing him and the way he is, we'll probably run into him again at some point. He can take care of himself with that pickaxe he's using,"

"As for the Resistance Base, Yukimura mentioned it." Komaru said, answering Yuta's other question from before. "A Resistance Base… that might be worth looking into Mukuro."

"He said he was searching for it before he ran away from us, the last time we saw him," Mukuro pondered aloud. "I guess after I get you two back to the mainland, I'm going to go searching for it. Maybe he's already there hopefully,"

"Can I ask you a question Yuta?" Komaru asked. Yuta immediately nodded towards her, while flashing a grin towards Komaru while doing so. "Why do you think you were kidnapped?"

"Why was I kidnapped?" Yuta said out loud, as he begun to think about it. "That was something I thought about during my time here but I still don't know why. I'm just a normal person who's athletic and that's it,"

"No clue too huh?" Komaru said, as she wondered about it. "Did the people behind all of this just kidnap people at random then?"

Mukuro remained silent, wondering if she should tell them the reasons for why they were kidnapped. The kidnapped being used as "motives," for the people closest to them as an incentive to murder. But once she thought of it like that, she decided to remain silent, as that probably wasn't the best things to hear, considering everything that's happened so far. Her thoughts were interrupted as the three of them heard a kid laughing behind them. The three turned around and saw a female Monokuma Kid wielding what appeared to be a detonator. Before the three could do anything, the Monokuma Kid immediately used the detonator, and a loud explosion could be heard further down the subway, as the kid made a run for it away from the scene back to the subway entrance.

"Why can't these kids stop trying to kill us!?" Yuta yelled out with frustration and fear as he was sprinting away.

"Why is today full of so many explosions!?" Komaru whined as she began to run back.

"Less whining, more running!" Mukuro shouted to the two, as behind the three, debris from the ceiling began to fall down. The three ran and ran till eventually the ceiling stopped falling down, and they were back near the stairs that took them directly to the area that was the bottom of the stairs that led back to the information booths, gates, and subway fare machines. Komaru took a moment to breathe, while Yuta breathed a bit as well, while Mukuro looked back towards the rubble and sighed. "Well I guess that option is gone now,"

"So umm… we should search for the Resistance Base, you two mentioned, right?" Yuta suggested, as Komaru nodded to him, while Mukuro wondered where such a place would even be. The three soon heard the sound of footsteps as the three looked up towards the staircase. They saw two male Monokuma Kids holding what appeared to be a HD monitor, oddly enough, and stopped in place in front of the three teenagers.

"Tee hee," the sounds of two Monokuma Kids suddenly sounded out, as the three looked at the two kids and the monitor they were holding. The monitor soon flickered to life, and displayed a familiar person that both Komaru and Mukuro had seen before. Another one of the Warriors of Hope, while Yuta tensed up, afraid of the group.

"Is this thing on?" Jataro questioned. "Am I on already?"

"You're… another one of those kids from that airship," Komaru said with a gulp, as she recognized him.

"Another one of those Warriors of Hope, once again," Mukuro said calmly.

"Yep. I'm the Priest… Jataro Kemuri. Aka, the Little Ultimate Art! " Jataro slowly explained with a mischievous smirk. "But I'll warn you now… don't say my name out loud! It's a curse!"

"Jataro Kemuri," Mukuro calmly said, while Jataro's face comically looked disappointed from hearing that. Yuta however finally worked up the courage to say something, as he was curious about something.

"Why are you wearing a mask?" Yuta asked, though a part of him felt he shouldn't have asked.

"Huh!? You don't want to see me, without my mask! I look horrible! If you see me, all of your eyeballs will explode!" Jataro commented in a comical panicky fashion. "Even I don't want to see that! Someone's eyeballs melting cause of my face… say by the way… is it true that they use bugs for food dye? Like for wasabi with the taste and color and stuff,"

"That sounds totally gross," Yuta said, starting to feel more nervous again.

"Gross? I don't think I'm gross. I think I'm a cheerful kid." Jatato questioned out loud. "But maybe I don't know what cheerful really means… then I apologize and I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. I beg you, forgive me, I'm so sorry,"

"You… you can stop, because I don't think you're helping your case," Komaru said uneasily with sweat dripping down her face, not sure where the point of this conversation was going.

"Huh? You don't forgive me? Does that mean you hate me!?" Jataro said with surprising excitement, as the three teenagers were surprised at what sounded like a kid, wanting to be hated. "Well maybe not… maybe you're just teasing me like when girls tease boys they like,"

"What is the point of this? To make us hate you?" Mukuro questioned, annoyed as she was starting to not like the fact she was just standing around for nothing.

"I don't know… maybe?" Jataro said in a thinking pose. "I just say stuff involuntarily sometimes. Even I don't know what to make of it. Well anyway, you guys must be pretty laid back, if you want to keep listening to me talk-"

"Good bye," Mukuro simply said as she was starting to walk away, not wanting to put up with this kid anymore.

"Hold on! I wouldn't leave if I were you demon. Especially when I have something important to to tell you and the two other demons," Jataro taunted with a smirk.

"We should do what he says Mukuro. Considering what just happened with the subway tunnels, maybe they have more tricks up their sleeves," Komaru warned, with Yuta nodding in agreement. Mukuro sighed and returned to where she stood.

"Good. We forgot to tell the one wearing the wristband that… besides messing with it… if she leaves the city, she'll also go… boom, boom, boom!" Jataro explained. Komaru's face paled as she felt as if her whole being shattered from what she heard.

"What!?" Komaru shouted, surprised and scared, while Yuta looked concerned, and Mukuro looked angry from what she heard.

"That's messed up!" Yuta said, as he just realized what could have had happened, had they kept going along the train tracks, before the ceiling came down.

"Information like that, is information you don't leave out at all," Mukuro said seriously. "She could have died if we had kept going,"

"Well… some things are better left not said. Adults say that all the time." Jataro replied annoyed back. "Like… Mr. Piggy is going to become bacon. It doesn't matter if he knows he's going to become bacon or not. It's still going to happen. I only told you demons because it be too boring to kill her that way so that's why we had this place blocked now. I like being a cat that plays with a mouse. With me being the cat, and her being a mousey mouse to play with and-"

"Stop it already! Stop talking!" Komaru yelled out with a mixture of sadness and anger, as she was starting to get irritated herself from everything she was hearing from Jataro.

"Sounds like you hate me now. Good. I'm from Planet Hate where it's easier to just be hated," Jataro said with a mischievous smirk.

"We don't want to hate you but, for right now, we definitely do hate you!" Yuta yelled out. "As long as you kids keep doing these terrible things, don't expect otherwise!"

"That sounds great. In fact… why don't I make you three hate me more?" Jataro said with a sinister smile. The screen then changed to depict what looked like a giant Monokuma holding what appeared to be puppet strings over a bunch of adult sized humanoid silhouettes that were shadowed in some huge room. The room had a giant set behind them that depicted a theme park. The giant Monokuma was making the shadowed silhouettes dance as if they were puppets. Komaru and Yuta looked confused, while Mukuro slowly came to the realization, what she was seeing, was reminiscent of the kind of "planned," executions she and Junko had for the whole of Class 78 that got unused, for Junko's failed killing game in Hope's Peak Academy. Soon the lights in the video turned on, and the shadowed human silhouettes were fully seen.

" **GAH!** " Yuta screamed out in fear from what he was seeing, while Komaru felt her urge to throw up again, come back to her. The silhouettes were all dead human adult corpses, with their hands all bolted to each other's hands, with blood leaking out. The giant Monokuma kept making them dance without a care in the world, playing with the dancing dead corpses with glee till the video eventually ended, and Jataro was back on screen.

"How do you like my latest diorama project? It's got all my arts and crafts and artistic vision!" Jataro proudly proclaimed.

"Why would you show us something like that?" Yuta asked, with a nervous expression on his face.

"I don't know… I don't understand myself sometimes what I do," Jataro said. "Oh… I remembered why! Did I put a bad taste into your mouths? Did it work? Do you three hate me more? Or maybe you guys aren't affected by this, cause you guys have disgusting hobbies as well?"

"I don't know why you want us to hate you," Mukuro questioned, not sure still why Jataro was doing this.

"Is it because you already hate me? Or do you not want to hate me?" Jataro taunted.

"Why do you want to be hated so much!?" Komaru yelled out, as her emotions were getting to her. "That sounds crazy!"

"And what if I am crazy? Whose fault is that?" Jataro answered. "Well it doesn't matter. I have so much fun now, compared to before! In a way, the demons I should thank. For teaching me I'm nothing but ugly, nasty, worthless filth! I live like filth, surrounded by filth, with no adults in this paradise to get in my way. So… do you hate me?"

Komaru was at a loss for words, while Yuta wished he had a small rock on his being as he wanted to throw it at the HD monitor as he didn't want to hear anymore. Mukuro just kept a stoic expression remaining silent as she wasn't fazed at all by this kid.

"Hmmm… I don't know if you guys hate me more or not. But regardless, I'm going to keep trying! It's like that one movie series, where the hate makes your stronger or something." Jataro said absent-mindedly. "Well I think that's enough for now. Bye bye! Don't let the aliens abduct you all before I make you all points! Then I won't have to buy soda later!"

With that, the HD monitor turned off and the two Monokuma Kids walked off, carrying it. Komaru felt her legs giving way as she felt tears start to leak out of her eyes. Yuta and Mukuro immediately noticed as they spoke to her.

"Please don't cry Komaru," Yuta said concerned as he kneeled down beside the girl. Mukuro was now really wishing she had picked up any of the past two mangas had she known this would happen again.

"Crying like a kid, isn't going to make them accept you like one, and stop trying to hunt you, Komaru," Mukuro calmly said.

"It's just… every time I think I'm about to escape Towa City… something happens that pulls me back into it," Komaru said weakly. "Now I know… I can't escape at all unless I'm willing to get blown up! My chances of escaping now are zero!"

"Komaru…" Yuta said starting to feel sad himself from seeing the girl like this.

"Come on Komaru. Is this really necessary?" Mukuro asked.

"I just… can't handle all of this…." Komaru said as she felt as if the world was against her, as she sniffled. "I'm stuck in a place filled with people and things that want to kill me. If I try to escape I'll be blown to pieces. What options do I have?"

"We can get that wrist band off of you here then," Mukuro answered.

"We… we can?" Komaru asked, as her crying softened in response.

"I think so. If there is a way to have something like that armed, they should have a way to deactivate it as well hopefully," Mukuro stated. "But moping around is not going to get us anywhere."

"But will what you just suggested actually happen?" Komaru questioned as she wasn't fully confident in herself. "I'm just a normal high school student. Compared to me, you're above and beyond!"

"So what?" Mukuro stated out loud, while Komaru was surprised by what she heard. "So what if you're a normal high school student? That doesn't take away from the fact you're still living right now. Plus why do you think I'm here?"

"Huh?" Komaru said quietly, with tears still going down her face.

"I'm here too you know… and Yuta as well now," Mukuro said. "If you feel it's impossible alone, then know that you're not alone. We're going to get through all of this together,"

"Mukuro…" Komaru said starting to feel a bit better, as hearing the older girl's words was encouraging. Yuta then spoke up, trying to encourage Komaru as well.

"You and Mukuro saved me from a giant killer robot mech, Komaru. I know you can get that explosive wristband off you!" Yuta encouraged warmly, as Komaru started to feel better from what she was hearing, as he offered his hand to her. She smiled and picked it up, as Yuta helped Komaru up and she felt better now. Mukuro in the meantime was taking notes about Komaru about how she was prone to being extremely emotional.

"You know… thanks to you two I feel more confident in myself again. Thank you Yuta," Komaru said as she then gave Yuta a hug. Yuta blushed, while Mukuro was really rolling her eyes now. Mukuro cleared her throat, and Yuta stopped hugging Komaru, as their attention was focused onto the older teenager. "Thank you too Mukuro. Want a hug as well?"

"I'll pass. Let's head back onto the streets and see what we can do from there, alright?" Mukuro suggested, as both Yuta and Komaru nodded.

* * *

The three went back up the stairs onto the floor with the information booths and fare machines, and then went up another set of stairs to get back on the street. When they reached the top, they saw a very odd sight that made them stop. Loud music that a certain black and white bear was known to have, whenever he showed up was currently playing. A ton of regular Monokumas and Monokuma Kids were all on the streets now, all dancing in sync, doing a dance routine of sorts. Komaru, Mukuro, and Yuta looked at each other with dumbfounded blank expressions and just silently nodded in agreement as all three already decided what to do, and walked back down the stairs, before any of the Monokumas or Monokuma Kids could see them.

The three found themselves back on the floor with the information booths and subway fare machines, in silence, not sure what to comment on what they saw. Mukuro finally decided to break the silence.

"We are not going back through the streets. That's all," Mukuro simply said.

"That was a cute dance routine…" Komaru commented while Mukuro just pretended she didn't hear that. "If they weren't trying to kill everyone, it be even cuter,"

"So where do we go now?" Yuta asked, feeling unsure. The three looked around trying to decide where to go, as they saw a female Monokuma Kid, in the area run up to them. The female Monokuma Kid quickly handed Komaru a SD card with the Japanese characters for the word knockback, marked in cyan marker on the back, then ran off towards a different part of the current area, leading into the underground shops.

"Why did that kid just give you a SD card, Komaru?" Yuta asked confused. "Actually, why do you use a megaphone gun anyway?"

"For your first question, it's for game balance apparently. For your second, it fires electromagnetic wave bullets," Komaru answered with a grin, happy to have recovered another one of the bullet types back, as she placed it back into the Hacking Gun while Yuta looked confused still.

"It's a long story. Let's walk and talk it," Mukuro suggested as the three walked towards the direction of where the female Monokuma Kid ran off to. The three found themselves seeing a bunch of underground shops and stores around, and stopped when they saw a peculiar sight. Two Monokumas wearing black police helmets, gray police uniforms, and wielded riot shields that were marked with the words "Kuma," and the red eye symbols that Monokumas had, were seen. They were Guard Monkumas, and they were currently kicking and shield bashing something or someone hiding beneath a large white sheet.

"Please stop doing this! This is so mean!" shouted a muffled voice from whoever was under the sheets. Mukuro froze immediately upon hearing it, and her eyes widened a bit, as the voice sounded very familiar to her. It reminded her of Junko, whenever she was acting as one of her personalities, before inevitably getting bored and switching to another one. In this case, her cutesy personality where she would purposely talk all cute and innocent like.

"No… no, it can't be!" Mukuro whispered to herself, surprised. She knew her sister wouldn't say such things, and let her Monokumas beat her up like this. Yuta gulped as he stood behind Komaru who readied the Hacking Gun.

"Mukuro, we got to save, whoever's underneath those white sheets!" Komaru yelled out. Komaru immediately fired a break bullet at one of the two Guard Monokumas, but it had no effect as the Guard Monokuma seeing this, immediately brought up its riot shield. "Break bullets aren't work-

"Try the new one Komaru!" Mukuro yelled out, as she immediately ran up to the other Guard Monokuma. The other one readied its shield and tried to bash forward with it, but Mukuro just leaped over it and got behind it. She immediately went to town, with her knives and tore the Guard Monokuma apart. Komaru meanwhile switched to the new knockback bullets and fired one at the remaining Guard Monokuma. It was like a shotgun shot, as the cyan knockback bullets spread out when fired, knocking the Guard Monokuma away, and making it drop its shield. Before it could get back up and grab its shield again, Komaru fired a blue break bullet at the robot, blowing it up to bits.

Yuta slowly walked up to the white sheets and slowly removed it. Once he did, he freaked out as he fell on his butt, and crawled backwards. It was an all-white Monokuma. Komaru helped up Yuta, feeling confused and hesitant herself. Mukuro had a strong feeling this was the so called nice white bear, that Yukimura was talking about.

"It's a… Monokuma?" Komaru said with a bit of unease in her voice. The white bear stood up and faced them. It had white bandages wrapped and covering its red eye, two white bandages on its right cheek beside a pink blush, and a white bandaged left hand and foot. "What does this mean? Monkumas beating up another Monokuma?"

"Why would the Monokumas be fighting each other?" Yuta questioned, curious as well. Mukuro in the meantime glared at the robot, contemplating what to do. The fact it sounded like Junko whenever she was doing her cutesy voice, did not sit well with her whatsoever. The white Monokuma soon stood up itself.

"Puhaaa! I thought I was going to die!" the white Monokuma proclaimed, with a sense of relief in it's cute friendly voice, as it turned to face the three.

"Eeek!" Komaru gasped out, not expecting it to talk at all.

"It talked!?" Yuta added, surprised himself.

"Ah, don't be scared! It's okay! I'm not a particularly suspicious bear! I'm a nice bear. I would give my opponent the corner in Othello!" the white Monokuma explained for himself. Mukuro however took out one of her knives and slowly approached it with the intent to destroy it. Komaru seeing this immediately ran in front of the white Monokuma.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Komaru asked, while the white Monokuma cowered behind her, and Yuta gulped, seeing the scene play out. "He's not attacking us or anything,"

"Get away from that Monokuma. I'm not taking any chances, and won't let it do anything to jeopardize anything," Mukuro warned, with a serious expression, as she felt this was her sister's doing, and the fact it had her voice, bothered her. She felt so mixed about this bear, but she knew that regardless if Junko was voicing it or not, it still wasn't Junko herself. So destroying and getting rid of it, wouldn't be an issue for her.

"Please don't hurt me! I'm not a bad bear at all. I promise you'll understand if we just talk it out!" the white Monokuma said with fear in its voice.

"You shouldn't even be talking like this in the first place," Mukuro said seriously, as she knew the Monokumas didn't tend to talk, unless someone was controlling and voicing them directly.

"That's because I have a special artificial intelligence in me! I'm not like the other bears who like to cause trouble!" the white Monokuma explained. "I can think and reason and be good. I'm your ally! Let me start with telling you all, what my name is. It's Shirokuma! Nice to meet you all!"

"See? He's a nice bear," Komaru said with a smile towards Mukuro. "He's kind of cute. A big cute white teddy bear,"

"Well if Komaru thinks he's okay, then I think he's okay as well," Yuta said, as he smiled at how friendly Shirokuma was proving to be as well. Mukuro however still glared at the white bear robot, not convinced at all.

"Step aside and let me destroy that Monokuma," Mukuro said seriously again.

"Don't say that! We can be friends! I want to be friends with everyone!" Shirokuma said in a friendly manner. "What are your names?"

"I'm Komaru Naegi," Komaru said as she gave Shirokuma a friendly handshake. "Don't mind her, she can be a bit moody,"

"My name is Yuta Asahina," Yuta said as he walked over to Shirokuma and gave him a friendly handshake as well, Mukuro however stayed silent.

"Don't be shy, I don't bite," Shirokuma said warmly to the soldier. Mukuro however was really tempted to call out the bear, as she had a strong feeling that either Junko was the one using Shirokuma at the moment, or it's so called special AI involved Junko in some way. Either way, she was wary of Shirokuma. "Well if you don't want to tell me your name, that's okay. What are you three even doing here?"

"We're not sure. We're kind of looking for a safe place to be," Yuta explained.

"I see. Well if that's the case, why don't I take you three to a safe place?" Shirokuma suggested. "In the underground area here, I know a way to a Resistance Base, where many adults are hiding themselves from the children,"

Hearing this, instantly piqued the interests of all three of them. That Shirokuma knew where the Resistance Base was.

"You know where the Resistance Base is?" Komaru asked, her voice filled with excitement. A place that they could use for shelter proper, they could possibly find now.

"Maybe Yukimura is there as well," Mukuro whispered to herself, as she recalled the teen mentioning the place, along with Shirokuma.

"Can you take us there Shirokuma!?" Yuta asked excitedly as well, with the white bear nodding in response.

"Yep. I can take you three there now!" Shirokuma suggested with a big smile and a friendly tone still.

"If you're lying, then I'm going to turn you into scrap metal. Just know that," Mukuro threatened, as Shirokuma nodded, not worried about what Mukuro just said at all.

"I'll lead the way then!" Shirokuma said happily. "But just to show I really mean it, let me give you three a hug!"

Shirokuma walked up to Yuta and gave him a warm hug. Yuta accepted, and found that the robot bear meant well, as he found himself smiling.

"Thank you Yuta for accepting me!" Shirokuma said happily. Shirokuma then walked over to Komaru and hugged her happily.

"Thank you Komaru for accepting me!" Shirokuma said nicely, with Komaru smiling, happy to have another positive individual with them. Shirokuma finally walked over to Mukuro, and stretched his arms out for a hug. Mukuro however just glared at the bear and refused to hug him.

"If you're controlled by who I think you're being controlled by, or are being influenced by that same person in some way ... just know that I'm going to not stop trying to bring the despair you so desire," Mukuro whispered to Shirokuma, quiet enough that only the white bear could hear her. Shirokuma remained quiet very briefly from hearing that, before saying the following.

"Awww it's okay. You went through a lot up till now, so you have trouble trusting people. I understand. But the world is also full of amazing people! You don't have to be so pessimistic. I'm sure we'll become good friends in the future!" Shirokuma said out loud while Mukuro continued to scowl at the bear. "Well then everybody, I'll start leading to where the Resistance Base is. So follow me!"

"Yeah! Then I'll leave it to you, Shirokuma!" Komaru said full of optimism and with a big grin.

Both Komaru and Yuta walked after Shirokuma, while Mukuro hesitated in place, as she didn't move yet, as she really wondered if Shirokuma was someone that could be trusted. Was Junko controlling that bear? Did the bear just happen to sound like one of her personalities by coincidence? Should she destroy the white robot bear or let it still be operational? This feeling was reminiscent of her first night staying at the Future Foundation Headquarters, where she was plagued by feelings of conflict, unease, uncertainty, and feeling overwhelmed. It was only when Makoto came to visit and see her in her room, she felt better and calmed down. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Komaru call for her.

"Mukuro are you okay?" Komaru shouted out concerned. Mukuro was shook out of her thoughts, as she shouted back she was fine, as she began to walk after the two teens and the white robot bear, wondering how this was going to go exactly. She quickened her steps, with her eyes never leaving focus on Shirokuma, as she felt something was off about this bear. Whether she was right or wrong about her feelings towards the white bear, remained to be seen.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **How was that? Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. Junko is known for having multiple personalities in the games sometimes, where she'll switch off them when she gets bored. Shirokuma is voiced by the same voice actress as one of Junko's voice actresses (she has two English ones. Amanda Celine Miller & Erin Fitzgerald). Shirokuma is voiced by Amanda Celine Miller, who has a voice based on one of Junko's personalities. Shirokuma... hmmm.  
**

 **2\. Speaking of Shirokuma, his name "Shiro," means white in Japanese which refers to his appearance. Also "Kuma," in Japanese means bear.**

 **3\. Guard Monokumas are yet another brand new type of Monokumas that make their debut in Danganronpa Another Episode. Their main defense (the riot shields) can easily be knocked out of them with Knockback bullets which you get in the same chapter where they first start appearing.**

 **4\. Komaru commenting on the dance scene being cute, is something she says in the Japanese version of Danganronpa Another Episode when it happens.**

 **That's about it for now. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the story so far, and if you guys have anything you want to say, point out, criticize, etc, don't be afraid to do so. Till next chapter!**


	9. The Resistance Base

**So we are finally at Chapter 9! As usual before I move onto the chapter itself, I'm going to go over the reviews.**

 **The remaining Warriors got some stuff to deal with, seems like the Saionji joining in on the madness that is the Ultimate Despairs and their search for Izuru, who is telling some tales with Chiaki and Yukizome listening to him, and the motley crew with Mukuro and Komaru keep pressing forward. Humorous as usual Luckenhaft.  
**

 **To blitz asking about his question, I think she would. Because it be a way for her to be involved without directly involving herself, and considering how DRIF ended, she would need time to herself to get ready again for the future. Also considering DR2 still needs to happen at some point as well, I thought it be best to handle it this way.**

 **To Knight of Balance, Mukuro would definitely be suspicious, especially considering Junko is still alive and everything else you brought it up. It was an interesting ramble to hear in regards to the previous chapter, DRIF, and the setting and story. Also noted in regards to Shirokuma.**

 **Well that should be it. I hope everyone has been enjoying the story so far, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well. Enjoy!**

* * *

Mukuro, Komaru, and Yuta kept walking after Shirokuma in the underground area. Komaru and Yuta were smiling, happy at the bear who had proven to be very friendly to them so far, while Mukuro kept up her skeptical glare on the bear robot, wondering if it would try to pull anything at all. Shirokuma noticed that Mukuro was keeping a serious stare at him. He decided to try to talk to her.

"Say, why are you wearing that cute smiley pin?" Shirokuma asked. Mukuro stopped to glare back at the bear, while Komaru and Yuta stopped as well.

"That… that is an interesting question Shirokuma. I didn't notice she was wearing it until now. I'm surprised I didn't notice till now," Yuta said. "My mind must have been so preoccupied by everything happening, I didn't notice she was wearing a smiley pin,"

"It… it reminds me of the first person to ever smile at me," Mukuro said begrudgingly, not wanting Shirokuma to hear this. Yuta was surprised to hear that from Mukuro, while Shirokuma began to blush.

"Awww! That's so sweet! Whatever boy that has a good girl like you, having a crush on them, must be very lucky!" Shirokuma remarked happily, while this caused Mukuro to take out both her knives. "You must be very passionate about this person indeed, to have this smiley pin on you, to think of him like that!"

"Be quiet," Mukuro simply said, not wanting to talk about such a thing towards the robot bear. Shirokuma giggled softly, while Yuta decided it was best to not press on about the topic for his livelihood. Shirokuma soon led them to a room, and in the middle of the room laid a large hole, with a ladder set up to it. Nearby was a metal shelf that peculiarly enough had a manga book on it. Komaru seeing this had her eyes sparkly, as she immediately went over to pick it up.

"Komaru likes manga huh?" Shirokuma said curiously, from seeing that.

"What's it to you?" Mukuro said with hostility, as she continued to glare at Shirokuma.

"Nothing! I just felt like making conversation," Shirokuma said, as he flailed his arms comically around, as the white robot bear couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by Mukuro in general.

"Komaru likes manga…" Yuta whispered to himself, wondering if he should get her a manga in the future, if they managed to escape from Towa City.

"Actually I thought it was a manga, but apparently it's a self-help book," Komaru said curiously. "Still it looks interesting,"

"What's it about Komaru?" Yuta asked with curiosity in his voice.

"It's called Mastering Disappointment," Komaru said out loud. Mukuro couldn't help but grit her teeth from hearing the word disappointment. It resonated with her, for a lot of reasons. "The summary says the following. Various regrets accompany life. Messing up at work, rocky relationships... because you haven't been able to properly attain "ultimate disappointment," you will forever be stuck in the past. Acquire the "skill of disappointment" so that you may finally begin looking towards the future. A guidebook to life that shines upon tomorrow,"

"Disappointment huh?" Shirokuma said in a curious tone. "Well that book sounds like a good way to deal with that! Anyone here experience a lot of disappointment in their life?"

Komaru and Yuta pondered about that, thinking about what Shirokuma said, while Mukuro's face flinched very briefly from hearing that as she tried to put on a stoic face from hearing that, with Shirokuma noticing this.

"Awww don't be scared. We all have moments where we feel disappointed in ourselves," Shirokuma said to Mukuro. She gave him a deadly glare, as she was getting more tempted to just destroy this robot.

"Shut the hell up," Mukuro simply said to Shirokuma. If looks could kill, Shirokuma be dead by now from Mukuro's current glare to him. She had enough of hearing that word from Junko herself. She didn't want to hear it from a bear that sounded like one of her personalities. Shirokuma just remained silent while Yuta and Komaru felt sweat drip from their faces, not sure what to say. "Let's just… go to the Resistance Base already."

"Alright," Komaru simply said, wondering if Mukuro was really alright. She opted to not take the book, noticing it bothered Mukuro for some reason. They soon descended, taking the ladder down and found themselves in the sewers. The group looked around and noted the environment. The sewage water was dark, murky, and purple. There were walkways made of both stone and metal setup around.

"I'll lead the way!" Shirokuma said enthusiastically as he walked in front of the human trio. The three followed after the bear, as Mukuro still kept a close eye on him. As they were walking, Komaru tried to make conversation.

"So Shirokuma, how exactly do you know about the Resistance Base?" Komaru asked curiously.

"I've been taking any adults there, ever since I was activated and met the leader of the Resistance Base." Shirokuma replied. "There were abandoned buildings in the area where the Resistance Base was, so I figured that was a safe place to take the adults. So far the children don't know about it at all,"

"Let's hope it stays that way." Yuta said quietly, hoping what he heard was the case.

"Who's the leader of the Resistance Base?" Mukuro asked, curious about that detail.

"I think that's something that's better left, for when you guys actually meet him," Shirokuma said. "I also plan for you three to meet him, so he can give you guys a room to stay and rest in, along with a good meal as well,"

"Finally! A place to actually properly rest in!" Komaru said with a big grin. "I feel pretty tired after everything that has happened today, so I can't wait to finally get some sleep as well,"

"It should be getting late as well now," Mukuro stated, as some time had passed since she and Komaru encountered each other and been through some hectic events throughout the day in general so far. "Making camp at the Resistance Base should be our next move,"

"Good thing you guys saved me!" Shirokuma said happily. "So I can help you three out as well,"

"That's only if you're telling the truth. If this is a lie, just know you'll be added to the junkyard," Mukuro threatened like before, as Shirokuma pressed forward, undeterred by what he just heard from Mukuro. They walked and walked through the sewers till they eventually reached a particular area that stood out. It was a huge circular area. The middle of the circular area was a huge drain, with water going towards it, and a circular stone walkway around the huge circle drain. There was a very tall ladder near the middle of the upper part of the circular path, against a stone wall.

They carefully walked along the path, so they wouldn't fall into the center of the hole nearby them, and towards the ladder. Shirokuma carefully walked to the ladder and soon started climbing it, with Mukuro, Komaru and Yuta following behind him. Yuta climbed the ladder, with Mukuro behind him, and then Komaru. All of them soon found themselves before a large metal white gate. Besides the large metal white gate was a lever to open and close the door.

"Is this where the Resistance Base is located?" Komaru asked, impressed by the size of the metal gate that stood before her.

"Yep. Come on in," Shirokuma said as he walked over to the lever and flipped it to open the white metal gate. Shortly afterwards the gate started to rise, before it fully opened up. They saw many adults inside, among many warehouse like housing structures inside.

"See Mukuro? Shirokuma is a good bear. He didn't lie to us," Komaru pointed out, while Mukuro just sighed, having to admit that did seem to be the case. She was glad it did turn out to be real though. She had a place to potentially stay and use as a hub for the rest of the city, and as a place as a safe haven to keep the hostages at as well, in the meantime as well. Once she found all the hostages, then she could plan a way for them to all escape from Towa City in general.

"Let's go in. The metal gate will only stay open for one minute," Shirokuma said as he walked forward with the rest following him in. The group of four finally made it inside. Many adults looked towards them. Some looked towards the group and had mixed reactions on their faces. Some were confused by what Mukuro and Komaru had on their being, some were happy to see Shirokuma again, as they smiled upon seeing the white bear, and some just had looks of pure apathy on their faces and beings in general, despite three new people now in the area.

There was many multiple warehouse like buildings setup, in the very large area, as it was basically an underground town. One building in particular was larger than the others, and it was on the opposite end of the entrance, where they entered from. They noticed that there were a set of large metal shipping containers and with ladders near them to the left and right sides, as they led to a higher areas with even more buildings setup for the people in this area.

"So many adults here," Komaru said, from what she was seeing. "I never expected there be an underground base like this,"

"Wow! It's amazing that something like this, exists under the city," Yuta said, pretty impressed by what he saw.

"It's an old warehouse area where they used to store water tanks. The kids don't know about it. All the adults here are safe from the children." Shirokuma stated. "If you three want, walk around and talk to some people. I'll be waiting by that building all the way down there,"

Shirokuma pointed to the large building that was at the opposite side of the entrance, where they were standing by.

"Over there is the building where the leader in charge of the Resistance Base uses for meetings. I need to have you guys meet the leader of the Resistance Base, so he can get you guys a place here to rest. See you three later," Shirokuma said. He walked over to the large building and stood in front of it, while the three looked at each other.

"Guess we can take the opportunity to get to know more people," Yuta said. He walked over to one of the male adults and waved his hand in a friendly manner. "Hi. How are you?"

"Who are you? You look pretty young. You better not be on the side of those kids," the adult responded irritably.

"No? Shirokuma brought me and the two girls with me here," Yuta explained.

"Well if that's the case, then I can trust you then if Shirokuma does. Since Shirokuma brought us all here and all," the male adult replied. "Still you three better not cause any trouble. If you'll excuse me, I'll be going,"

The man just walked away from Yuta. Yuta's face flinched, as he wasn't expecting that. He walked back to where Mukuro and Komaru stood, as he felt hesitant.

"What did I do?" Yuta asked, feeling both curious and a bit hurt from what just happened.

"Maybe that guy was just in a bad mood? I'll try talking to someone else," Komaru said uneasily, trying to make Yuta feel better. Komaru walked up to one of the female adults nearby, that had her left leg bandaged up, and she was sitting on the ground by herself. Komaru walked up to the adult with a friendly smile, with Mukuro following behind her, just to be on the safe side. "Hello miss. How are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Shirokuma helped patched me up," the female adult said back to Komaru. "He's a good bear, unlike all those other Monokumas out there right now. If he wasn't there when I was attacked, I wouldn't be here right now,"

"Shirokuma risked his life for you?" Mukuro asked curiously.

"Yes. Shirokuma saved our lives and if he weren't around for all of us, everyone here be dead by now," the adult women explained back.

"But… Shirokuma's still a Monokuma as well like the other ones," Mukuro pointed out. Hearing this caused the women sitting on the ground to stand up with a scowl on her face towards Mukuro.

"Don't do that! Don't lump Shirokuma with the other Monokumas! How dare you!" the lady angrily yelled out. The lady walked away from the two, with Komaru having a frown on her face now, as Yuta walked up to the two teenage girls, frowning as well while Mukuro just sighed with rolled eyes.

"That… didn't go as well as I hoped," Komaru said, sounding disappointed. "All Mukuro said was that Shirokuma was technically a Monokuma as well…"

"Maybe we should try another person?" Yuta suggested. Mukuro shook her head for a no, suggesting not to.

"Everyone seems to be pretty… out of it," Mukuro said quietly, as she felt all the adults here were probably emotionally and mentally damaged, from everything that has happened in Towa City recently. The three stayed quiet, as they looked around, seeing how a majority of the adults present seemed to be emotionally distressed in some way. The silence was broken as both Mukuro and Komaru heard a familiar voice call out to the two.

"Well if it isn't the two girls who chased me earlier today!" shouted the voice that belonged to a certain biker. Mukuro, Komaru, and Yuta looked around and saw the source of the voice, as the biker still had his pickaxe on his being. Unlike before, he was friendlier compared to before. "It's me Yukimura! Don't worry as I'm way calmer now, since I'm here safe in this Resistance Base now, so I'm not going to run off or anything. Who's the new guy you have with you?"

"He's Yuta. He's a hostage we ran into and managed to save," Komaru explained, as Yuta walked over to Yukimura and both shook hands in a friendly manner

"Finally nice to have a guy around my age to be around. The adults here are all so damn depressing and they all act like they're on their period," Yukimura said. "I mean, I can't blame them considering all the crazy shit happening though lately but still,"

"Well it's good that you have a pickaxe to help fight against the Monokumas in Towa City at the moment," Yuta replied back.

"You're right about that!" Yukimura said with a grin. Yukimura then pointed to Shirokuma who waved to Yukimura. "That bear right there by the way, is a cool ass bear! He helped me get to this Resistance Base. You guys should be thankful he was around to help you guys,"

"We are. Shirokuma is a good bear," Komaru said happily. "Anything new with you besides being here now?"

"Sort of. The guy in charge here, wants me to go out in the future to find and bring supplies like food, medicine, and any other stuff back here and help out in general," Yukimura. "I don't mind considering he's letting me stay here. Anyway, I feel like calling it a day, so I'll be off to where I'm staying at. See you all around,"

With that, Yukimura walked away, heading towards one of the housing structures in the area. Mukuro took out her notepad and flipped to the page that had a list of hostages. She placed a check near Yukimura's name and sighed in relief, as she had considered him secured finally.

"This place seems like the perfect place to keep you guys safe in, while go around Towa City, to find the other people I intend to rescue," Mukuro stated out loud. She then looked around wondering if there were any other potential hostages connected to her classmates she would have to save. She saw someone that stood out, that caught her curiosity, as it resembled one of the people she said she save. It was a woman with a somewhat youthful appearance of a college student, who had light pink hair, a beauty mark beneath her lips, and brown eyes. She wore a white tank-top with a blue and white jacket, a white beaded necklace around her neck, black ripped jeans with a salmon pink belt, and finally sky-blue sneakers. On her lips she had a unlit cigarette, as she kept to herself. Mukuro grew curious as she walked over to the women, with Komaru and Yuta confused, following her. Soon the three found themselves standing in front of the women, who soon noticed the three's presence.

"Hmmm?" the women sounded out loud, looking at the three. Komaru decided to try speaking with her, seeing if she be friendlier compared to the previous adults. Only Yukimura here had proven to be pleasant to talk to so far.

"Umm… hello." Komaru said a bit nervous, hoping she be nicer. The women stayed silent for a bit, just observing the three. She then said one word back to them.

"Yeah…" she said simply as she continued to observe them. The three looked confused in response, not sure what to say to back to her. Yuta turned around and spoke to himself.

"I don't understand. Did we do something wrong?" Yuta whispered to himself quietly.

"Nah, you didn't do anything wrong," the women said back, surprising them as Yuta turned around to face her, while Mukuro was very confident she was another one of the hostages connected to her classmates, as the black haired girl continued to look at her.

"Huh? You heard me?" Yuta said back, a little surprised.

"I have pretty sharp ears. I can even hear things I don't even want to hear. It can be a pain," she explained back calmly. "Don't worry, you three seem alright,"

"Do you mind if I ask some questions?" Mukuro asked, hoping this person was who she thought she was.

"I don't mind at all." the women answered back. "It beats just standing around. Especially since the guy in charge here doesn't want anyone leaving the area besides Shirokuma so far, though that might change in the future,"

"Really? I guess I'll ask about that to start with that then. No one's allowed outside the Resistance Base except Shirokuma?" Mukuro asked to her.

"That's right. Because of that it can get boring. Though I've managed to ask some men to sneak me some cigarettes earlier today," the women answered back. "I just had to use a women's special charm,"

"A… women's special charm?" Yuta asked confused. The women smirked in response, seeing how naïve Yuta was.

"Yes. Though for your two friends who are girls here, they're not full adults yet, so they can't use their charm yet. At least not fully," the women explained. Mukuro's face turned stoic, while Yuta and Komaru's face flushed red from hearing that.

"Y-yeah…" Komaru awkwardly said back with sweat dripping down her face. Mukuro then decided to ask a question to change the subject.

"What's your name?" Mukuro asked, wanting to confirm her identity for sure.

"My name? The name's Hiroko Hagakure. I'm once divorced and currently single. My age is a secret," the women now known as Hiroko answered back in a playful tone. Mukuro sighed with relief, knowing that another one of the hostages she was to save, was already safe and secured. "What about you three? What are your names?"

"Yuta Asahina is my name. Nice to meet you Ms. Hagakure!" Yuta said with a cheerful smile.

"My name is Komaru Naegi. Pleased to meet you," Komaru said with a friendly smile.

"Mukuro. Mukuro Ikusaba," was what the black-haired soldier answered as Mukuro was straight to the point as ever.

"Well in that case, you two girls need short names like Yuta here. Hmmm… I got it. You're Koko and Muku," Hiroko said playfully to Komaru and Mukuro respectively. "Koko means most important thing, while Muku means pure. The more you know,"

"Koko suits you really well Komaru!" Yuta said, thinking their nicknames were cute, as he liked their meanings.

"Nicknames? Why?" Mukuro questioned to Hiroko, while Komaru smiled, as she thought the nicknames she and Mukuro got were cute as well.

"Worrying over little details is bad for the skin hun," Hiroko answered calmly to her while Mukuro frowned. "Well glad to see you three are safe. I hope more people get saved like you three, and not get killed off by the kids. I'll see you three around. Talk to me if you ever need someone to speak to,"

With that, Hiroko walked away from all of them. Mukuro took out her small notepad and as usual, checked off another name of another hostage. This hostage being the mother of her clairvoyant classmate Hiro. She closed her notebook and put it away.

"Well I think we should see Shirokuma now. I'm ready to get my own room and call it a day," Komaru said, as she was tired from everything that had happened to her earlier today.

"Yeah. I want to get a good night's sleep as well," Yuta added. Mukuro nodded in agreement, as she shared similar sentiments by this point as well. The three walked over to see Shirokuma, who was still standing by the building he went by earlier.

"So? How was everyone? Were they nice?" Shirokuma asked.

"Ummm..." Was the only noise Yuta could have come out of him, as he was unsure how to answer that. Mukuro just stayed silent, with a stoic expression, choosing not to answer Shirokuma.

"Some were nice. But most people seem to be… on edge Shirokuma," Komaru answered back slowly.

"I see… well hopefully everyone calms down more over time," Shirokuma said in response. "Well I think it's time we go in. The leader of the Resistance Base should be inside,"

* * *

The three found themselves inside a large meeting room. There was a large rectangular table in the middle of the room with metal chairs nearby it, a whiteboard with black markers below it, and gray lockers against the walls nearby. Inside they saw a man that appeared to be around his late twenties, early thirties, sitting on one of the metal chairs. He had black hair long hair that was unkempt, lavender eyes, a buttoned up shirt with a red rose pattern, a heavy red and black jacket with light brown fur trimming, black boots with white socks, and ripped black jeans. What they saw that stood out the most about him, was that he had a full on white cast, over his right arm, and that it looked like at the end, he no longer had a hand.

"Hey Shirokuma," the man calmly said, happy to see the bear again. "You brought three newcomers I see,"

"Yep! These three are seeking shelter so they need a place to stay at," Shirokuma kindly said. "You guys should introduce yourselves to him,"

"I'm Komaru Naegi." Komaru said with a smile as she sat down on a chair across from the man.

"And I'm Yuta Asahina," Yuta said, as he took a seat across from the man as well. Mukuro soon took a seat herself, sitting across from Haiji as well.

"Mukuro Ikusaba," the girl simply said simply. The man who sat across the three decided to speak his name.

"Well nice to meet you three. My name's Haiji Towa. I'm the current leader of the resistance here," Haiji answered. Komaru and Yuta immediately noticed that his last name corresponded with the name of the city they were in, while Mukuro had other thoughts resurface. Thoughts involving Kyosuke Munakata and how he wanted her to look into Towa Group. She recalled in the past that Junko dealt with Towa Group in some way apparently, from what she knew. Working with someone there, that even she wasn't privy the knowledge of knowing as Junko considered her too "dumb," or "useless," to know the full details. She wondered if Haiji was that person, or if at the very least he had any knowledge or relation to Junko's dealings with Towa Group at all.

"Haiji… Towa?" Yuta asked curiously. Haiji nodded to them, answering him in response.

"Yes. If you're wondering about my name, then let me explain. I'm part of the Towa family which is part of Towa Group, which runs Towa Corporation," Haiji explained. "My father was a chairman of Towa Group,"

"So your dad was part of Towa Group… where is he? Is he safe?" Komaru asked curiously, as Yuta recalled from what he had seen from articles regarding Towa Group while he was trying to survive in the city, in regards to the company.

"I don't know." Haiji said, looking away from them briefly before returning to face them. "Ever since the riots started, I've been separated from him."

"Oh…" Komaru said, feeling like she shouldn't have asked now.

"It's alright. I chose to talk about it. Anyway it's good to see that Shirokuma saved you three. He's been an immense help in general," Haiji replied calmly. Komaru then decided to ask a new question.

"Since you're a part of Towa Group, do you think it be possible for you, to remove this wristband?" Komaru said, as Haiji looked confused till he saw the wristband that Komaru had on her being. "If I try to leave the city or tamper with it… it'll blow up."

"Sorry. I don't know. Also, even if I did know, with how things currently are, I don't think I be able to help, since I don't have Towa Group with me. I have no money or status at the moment to help you since everything has been thrown to complete disarray," Haiji explained back. Komaru looked disappointed from hearing that but understood.

"Do you know any ways out of this city then?" Yuta asked, curious and hoping if there were any other escape routes, since the subway line they tried to use was no longer an option.

"No. From what I understand, the devils behind all this either destroyed or blocked off any possible escape routes out of Towa City," Haiji answered back.

"Devils?" Komaru said a bit confused. "Do you mean… the kids?"

"They're not kids… not anymore at least. Those god damn devils cost me my damn arm!" Haiji suddenly yelled out, feeling enraged, causing both Komaru and Yuta to feel nervous now, while Mukuro kept a stoic face. "See my cast!? It got crushed because of those damn devils and their Monokumas!"

Haiji took some deep breaths as he began to calm down, while Komaru and Yuta looked towards each other, both gulping while Mukuro simply stayed quiet.

"Well on the bright side, my nerve endings were crushed so I can no longer feel pain." Haiji said as he sounded calmer as he tried to compose himself. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get angry. Anyway, if you guys want, I can get you three a room and have you stay the night. One for Yuta, and one for both girls. Stay as long as you three need to, till this whole thing blows over,"

"Till… this whole thing blows over?" Mukuro asked curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, till it blows over. Till the children stop doing what they're doing or the government intervenes or whatever causes this whole thing to end," Haiji said.

"You mean… you plan to do nothing?" Mukuro replied back, a bit perplexed. "Is that really the best course of action?"

"Huh?" Haiji said, with a slight hint of irritation in his voice becoming present. "What do you expect me to do? We can't fight back, because that will just get us killed by those damn Monokuma machines!"

"I was just curious. That's all," Mukuro said, while Haiji eyed her suspiciously. Yuta decided to ask a question, to try to help relieve the tension in the room.

"Has anyone from outside the city, tried to make contact at all?" Yuta asked.

"I'm not sure. Communications got cut off in general since the riots began," Haiji responded. "I've tried to make contact with the outside using a wireless device I have, with no success so far,"

"What device?" Komaru asked out of curiosity.

"The newest wireless transmitter device from Togami Corporation. It's basically supposed to allow for audio and visual communication," Haiji explained, which caught all of their attention more. "Those kids are jamming the signal though, so unfortunately like most things in Towa City now, it's still not working."

"It can't work anywhere in this city then?" Yuta asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

"I'm not sure. There's one place in mind I think it might work," Haiji answered. "The problem is getting to that place, without being killed by those Monokuams,"

"Where?" Mukuro asked, as she felt confident she could reach it. She wanted to contact headquarters and see if it could work. "Where's this place then?"

"Huh? Why do you want to know?" Haiji asked with skeptical eyes.

"Because I want to bring that wireless device there and try to see if I can contact help," Mukuro answered, as she thought this would be a good opportunity to contact headquarters finally, to update them on the situation.

"Don't be stupid and think you can survive making it there with the wireless transmitter!" Haiji yelled back at her. "That would basically be suicide!"

"I've survived so far, along with help saving these two from everything happening," Mukuro calmly replied back. "I'm not trying to brag, I'm just doing my job,"

"Your job? What exactly is your job?" Haiji questioned, wondering what exactly it was. "And unless you prove to me with actual evidence that you can handle yourself out there, I don't think so. You may have weapons on you but so do some of the other people here,"

"Mukuro works for Future Foundation as one of their members," Komaru explained for Haiji.

"What!?" Haiji said both surprised and angrily. The tone in the room changed back to being hostile again, as Haiji suddenly stood up, surprising everyone else in the room except Mukuro, considering what she knew. She suspected that he was possibly the one that dealt with Junko, or was at least aware that Towa Group dealt with her in some way. He walked towards the doors that led to the room and stopped right before them. "If that's the case then I'm sorry but… get the fuck out of here. I refuse to cooperate with you,"

Haiji angrily stormed off as he left the room, while everyone else remaining was now quiet, from his actions. Yuta decided to comment on what happened.

"What… what just happened!? Why did he get mad all of a sudden?" Yuta asked, surprised and concerned from what he just saw.

"Does this mean… we can't stay here at the Resistance Base?" Komaru said with a wary face.

"I'll talk to Haiji! I'll try to calm him down and reason with him to let you all stay here." Shirokuma said, as he left the room, to go after Haiji. Mukuro, Komaru, and Yuta looked at each other in silence.

"All we can do is wait on Shirokuma. If he manages to convince Haiji to let us stay here, great. If not then we'll just have to find another place for shelter tonight," Mukuro simply stated.

"But… that doesn't answer why he got mad all of a sudden," Yuta asked quietly.

"He reacted angrily when… I brought up that Mukuro works for Future Foundation," Komaru said sadly. "Sorry Mukuro,"

"Don't be sorry. You did nothing wrong," Mukuro said to reassure Komaru. "If he has a problem with Future Foundation, then that's his choice ultimately,"

"But why would he have a problem with Future Foundation?" Yuta asked out loud. The room stayed quiet, as both Yuta and Komaru pondered why he would have an issue with the organization, while Mukuro stayed quiet once more. She had a strong feeling why Haiji would be wary of Future Foundation, but she didn't have definitive proof yet. She knew that this would be a good opportunity to go for her side objective, but at the same time knew, she needed a place to rest and stay at, while she was here in Towa City. This was definitely a tricky situation she needed to handle and balance in general.

"Well, whatever his reasons are, I hope he lets us stay at the Resistance Base here. I think it's like night time by now," Komaru said quietly, hoping Haiji would let them all stay the night at the very least. Some time had passed, as the three waited in the meeting room, and eventually Shirokuma came back.

"I managed to convince Haiji. He'll let you three stay tonight but only tonight, unless Mukuro helps out tomorrow to stay for future nights," Shirokuma.

"Help out in what way?" Mukuro questioned, wondering what assistance was needed of her exactly.

"He wouldn't say. He said he would talk to you tomorrow morning about it," Shirokuma said. Mukuro wondered if she could also convince him to lend her the wireless communication device as well, and tell her the location where it might work. "Anyway I'm going to take Yuta to his room first, then come back here and take you two to where you and Komaru will be staying at,"

"If that's the case, I just want to say my good nights to them tonight." Yuta said. He looked towards Mukuro and Komaru. "Have a good night Mukuro. Have a good night Komaru. Thank you two for saving me earlier today,"

"No problem Yuta. Have a good night," Komaru said back in a friendly manner. Mukuro merely nodded, to acknowledge Yuta's words. He soon stood up and then followed after Shirokuma. A short while later, Shirokuma returned.

"Alright. Let me take you two to where you'll be staying at," Shirokuma said. The three left the area they were in, and made their way to one of the housing structures in the area, that had a metal door on front with a barred window on it, so you can see the inside. Shirokuma opened the door, to the room and they then entered it. Komaru and Mukuro noticed that there was a simple white bed with two orange pillows on it, white sheets, and a black and green striped blanket on it. There was a small table nearby that had what appeared to be black pajamas, cyan pajamas and fresh undergarments on it, with two metal folding chairs besides the table. There was a door inside, that led to a bathroom that had a toilet, sink, and a shower. Nearby one of the corners of the room was a white laundry basket. "This private area is for you guys to stay at. I also prepared some clean clothes for you two to change into for when you sleep,"

"Awww! You didn't have to do that Shirokuma," Komaru said with joy, that the nice bear would go out of its way to do such a nice gesture for them.

"No problem! Just drop off the clothes you're both wearing into the laundry basket and I'll come back in about a half hour and bring it to a working washing machine in one of the buildings here where I can wash your clothes. Then I can bring back your regular clothes tomorrow morning. I'll also come by with some canned food, a can opener and a portable cooker for you two for a nice dinner," Shirokuma said.

"Thank you so much Shirokuma!" Komaru said amazed, as she went up to the bear and gave a very warm and tight hug to him. Shirokuma blushed while Mukuro just rolled her eyes, as she still didn't care for the bear at all. "It's thanks to you, that I'm finally starting to see some hope!"

Shirokuma soon left with a big grin on his face, leaving both Mukuro and Komaru alone in the room, as Komaru was in a very good mood, while Mukuro was glad that the bear was no longer with them.

"See Mukuro? I think Shirokuma is someone you should trust in the future," Komaru said happily.

"We'll see about that. Anyway, you should shower and get changed. I'm going to go over some things in the meantime," Mukuro suggested.

"Alright. But after I'm done showering and changing, you shower and change too alright Mukuro?" Komaru suggested, as Mukuro simply nodded back in agreement. Mukuro wanted to go over the amount of raisin boxes, water bottles, and band aids she had, so Komaru headed to the bathroom, as she took the cyan pajamas and some undergarments with her. Mukuro also placed her handguns, knives, and ammo belt under the bed as well. A short shower later, Komaru soon exited the bathroom now wearing the new sleeping attire and deposited her regular clothes into the blue laundry basket in the room. Mukuro soon went into the bathroom, taking the black pajamas and remaining undergarments and eventually came back out, refreshed and changed into sleeping attire as well, after she was done showering. Mukuro then deposited her clothes into the laundry basket and then sat down on the bed as well.

"It's been a long day. I already feel like sleeping," Komaru said, as she let out a big yawn. A sound that sounded like growling, emerged from Komaru's stomach, as she then sighed afterwards. "Though I still want to eat something other than raisins."

"In this kind of environment, you have to work with what you have," Mukuro stated. "We don't exactly have a lot of options, considering our situation,"

"I know. Anyway, how goes the supplies we have?" Komaru asked.

"We still have a moderate amount for water bottles, raisin boxes, and band aids. Well we didn't need to use any band aids so far thankfully," Mukuro answered back. "All things considered in general, everything's been going well for the most part."

By this point Shirokuma had returned, and he held a portable stove, a cooking pan, two cans of spaghetti and meatballs, two ceramic plates with a metal fork atop each one, and a can opener. He placed those items on the bed they were both now sitting at, and took the laundry basket with the clothes they wore earlier today.

"See you two in the morning. Have a good night!" Shirokuma said warmly as he left holding the laundry basket. Mukuro took the portable stove to the table, placed the cooking pan over it and carefully turned it on. She then used the can opener to open up the can of the pasta and meat and emptied the contents of the can into the cooking pan, which soon slowly started to be cooked.

"You can have the first can Komaru." Mukuro said to Komaru, as she waited for the food to get cooked. After a couple of minutes, she then turned off the portable stove, and carefully gripped the cooking pan and emptied the food onto one of the plates. Soon Mukuro had her own can of spaghetti and meatballs ready as well and emptied it onto the remaining plate.

"I'm going to miss the prison food I got," Komaru said, after she took a bite of her spaghetti and meatballs with a pouty expression, while Mukuro rolled her eyes at the comment. "I mean… it was really well cooked prison food, all things considering,"

"Food is food Komaru," Mukuro simply stated as she quietly ate her meal.

"I know, but if I were to eat spaghetti and meatballs, I rather go all out! Not the canned stuff, the good stuff!" Komaru answered out. "Like… imagine this Mukuro! You're sitting at a fancy Italian restaurant with the guy of your dreams, and you and him are both sharing a dish of spaghetti, and that scene from the movie with the two dogs happen, where they end up kissing each other, due to the same string of spaghetti! Try imagining that Mukuro!"

"Hmph," was all what Mukuro responded with. Still she decided to give what Komaru suggested a try as she imagined that exact scenario that Komaru suggested. She saw herself and Makoto dressed in a dress and suit respectively, sitting at a restaurant sharing a plate of spaghetti, and that scenario playing out like Komaru explained. Mukuro had an extremely faint hint of pink flush on her face, as she looked away while eating, trying to not let Komaru see it as she ate. Komaru however did notice and decided to comment.

"You must be thinking of the person who smiled at you Mukuro," Komaru said with a big grin on her face. Mukuro sent a glare at Komaru, but the younger girl wasn't deterred. "I mean, you did say you wear that smiley pin due to that person."

"Maybe," was all Mukuro said, as she stabbed one of the meatballs loudly with her fork, on her plate, to make a point that was all she was going to say on the matter. Komaru just sighed, getting the signal to not press the topic, and getting used to Mukuro's personality by now.

The two finished their meals, went to the bathroom to groom themselves, and then the two went to the only bed in the room. The two sat and laid down in the bed and sighed, as they pulled the blanket over themselves and each of them rested their heads on one of the two orange pillows.

"Good night Mukuro. Thank you for everything today. I mean it," Komaru said warmly, as she soon found herself soundly asleep, snoring peacefully. Mukuro just closed her eyes, wanting to sleep and get some rest, to be ready for tomorrow, for whatever help was needed of her from Haiji. So she and all the people she intended to rescue could use the Resistance Base as a safe hub for Towa City for the time being. She soon found herself in the realm of sleep, and all that entailed.

* * *

Mukuro heard a loud familiar laughter, as her eyes slowly opened as she found herself sitting against the entrance door in a certain large room. As soon as her eyes were fully awake, she found herself in a familiar setting. She immediately stood up, feeling concerned. She saw that she was wearing her normal attire again, and was now standing in what appeared to be the gymnasium of Hope's Peak Academy, with the lights all off. She also noticed she didn't have any of her weapons on her, or that Komaru wasn't with her at all.

"What? What is this?" Mukuro quietly whispered to herself. As soon as those words escaped her mouth, she saw one spotlight appearing behind the podium that was on the stage in the gym. Within that spotlight stood a familiar looking shadowy silhouette that remained unable to be seen despite being under the spotlight.

"Well if it isn't my stinky disappointing sister!" shouted a familiar voice, that sounded very familiar to Mukuro, as she looked toward the spotlight behind the podium. A silhouette that Mukuro knew all too well, as it now revealed itself fully to be Mukuro's sister. That sister being the one and only Junko Enoshima. Junko was waving towards her with a smirk.

"Junko! What are you doing here?" Mukuro shouted, feeling mixed emotions within her. "Why are we back in Hope's Peak Academy?"

"Geez, you're apparently still stupid as well. This is your damn dream, you smelly soldier!" Junko insulted back at Mukuro annoyed, while Mukuro couldn't help but flinch. It still bothered her to some extent that Junko felt this way towards her. "But man, it really says a lot about you, that you can have a dream like this. Talk about issues you have,"

Mukuro stayed silent, unsure of what to say back to her. She definitely had issues, especially considering everything that had happened as of late. Still if this was a dream, at least it wasn't real. Junko just sighed and smirked.

"Whatever. Anyway, listen up," Junko said with confidence. "You're going to fail to make me despair, and fail to make your cute crush get that hope he wants for the world. Because all you'll be is a failure, as you always were,"

"You're wrong Junko!" Mukuro shouted back. "I won't fail! I already saved some of the hostages and so far, everything's been going well!"

"You better hope you can keep it up then. After all, you're the kind of person who can't commit to a plan if everything at Hope's Peak Academy showed," Junko taunted, as she referred to the failed killing game while Mukuro felt her face cringing. She then took out what appeared to be a picture of Makoto, causing Mukuro to tense up. "But if you ask me, just you being around anyone is bad luck for those people."

"What… what are you saying Junko!?" Mukuro said, though a part of her internally felt she knew what Junko was already saying, as the words were hitting her hard.

"I'm sure you were feeling this, even to some degree before I showed up in your head," Junko taunted once more while Mukuro gritted her teeth. "Just know that. Well enough talking. Time, I show you one more thing,"

Junko then began to tear the picture of Makoto apart, while Mukuro seeing this action felt her heart was getting torn apart as well, seeing Junko do this. Junko then snapped her fingers while a new spotlight appeared in the room, on the gym floor. Mukuro looked confused, but her eyes went wide upon seeing who was in the new spotlight. It was Makoto tied to a cross, and he was knocked out. Junko then took out what looked like a remote with a big black button on it and she smiled mischievously.

"Bye bye!" Junko shouted with a mischievous grin, as she slammed the button. As soon as she hit it, black metal spikes popped up below Makoto and...

" **JUNKO STOP IT!** " Mukuro screamed out, as she awoke from the bed, with sweat dripping down her face. She began to take long and hard deep breaths, noticing the room was now dark, while Komaru next to her looked extremely concerned, as she noticed the younger girl was looking at her.

"Are… are you okay Mukuro?" Komaru asked. She had woken up a bit earlier to hear Mukuro talking in her sleep, and had observed her while doing so, unsure whether to wake her up or not. Mukuro placed a hand over her chest and cursed inwardly as she didn't want Komaru to see her like this, as she breathed, trying to fully calm down. After a couple of minutes, Mukuro having calmed down enough decided to respond.

"Yeah I… I'm fine. It must be the stress from everything." Mukuro said quietly back still breathing heavily a bit. "We should go back to sleep. We probably have a long day tomorrow as well,"

"Mukuro… you don't have to be the tough girl all the time," Komaru said gently, while Mukuro looked back at Komaru from hearing that. "You should be more open to me in the future,"

"Maybe one day Komaru," Mukuro answered back quietly, just wanting to sleep. She laid her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes. "Good night,"

"Alright... good night Mukuro," Komaru said back to her. With that Mukuro went back to sleep. Komaru frowned, but before she went to sleep herself, she spoke very quietly, wondering about something.

"Junko… who's Junko?" Komaru whispered quietly. "Junko… that name seems familiar somehow,"

Komaru then shrugged as she wanted to get more rest. She rested her head on the other pillow on the bed and soon fell asleep herself, though a part of her still wondered who this Junko person was.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **What did you all think? Notes as usual.**

 **1\. During the first opening cutscene of Danganronpa Another Episode, you can see Komaru reading fashion magazines which show Junko on the cover. Which explains why she might have known of that name before.**

 **2\. Haiji Towa is a new character introduced in Danganronpa Another Episode. In the original game he didn't really give objectives to the playable characters, so his role differs a bit in this version. Otherwise his personality and background remain the same generally.**

 **3\. That self help book they find this chapter, like the other books, are ones you can find in the actual game as well. Not all the books you find are manga in the original game.**

 **4\. I felt like the sewers being filled with Monokumas in the original game was awkward from a story point of view, as they could have attacked the Resistance Base earlier in Chapter 2 (in the game) which is why none show up now. From a gameplay point of view, it does make more sense.**

 **5\. Hiroko Hagakure is Yasuhiro's mother, and was the one who you gave the hit lists of all the hostages to in the original game. She also came up with nicknames for Komaru and Toko in the original game. The nicknames she used for Komaru is in the game, but for Mukuro is brand new. Also those nicknames actually mean those things in Japanese as well.  
**

 **Well that does it for now for notes I believe. As usual if anyone has anything they wish to say, criticize, point out, etc, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the story so far, and till the next one!**


	10. Convincing Others

**We are finally here at Chapter 10! Also Happy New Year to everyone! As usual I'll go over the previous reviews before moving on.**

 **Jesus at the slap-down that went down Luckenhaft. Also more V3 characters have shown up as well. Kaede and Shuichi having their interactions with the characters from the previous games is something to say the very least, as Masaru can attest from that slap. Kokichi, Himiko, and Gonta showing up to interact with Sonia and Gundham seems to be filled with insects. I wonder if that ninth lion that showed up during their thing, ever ate the sun? I wonder if you were going for that reference. Damn the adults are getting high with Hiroko in charge and is offering some raunchy rewards. Some messed up dreams for Mukuro, and good to see her and Komaru are getting along as usual at the end. I enjoyed it as usual.  
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 **To doomqwer, thank you, and regarding Naekusaba, that isn't the main focus per say, but it is definitely a part of the story to a degree. Like I said before, if I decide to make Danganronpa 3 IF a thing (as a potential sequel to this, and not promising anything), it'll definitely have a main focus there.** **  
**

 **Well that's it. I hope you guys have been enjoying this story so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

We see a separate unknown location that appeared to be a store of some sorts. We see a shadowy silhouette walking in this unknown location. It resembled a female teenager as it walked around and wielded what looked like a baseball bat. The silhouette walked to what appeared to be an aisle, and grabbed what appeared to be a box filled with wrapped bubblegum. She took one of the sugary treats and unwrapped the wrapper around it. She then placed the piece of bubblegum into her mouth and then placed the box back into the aisle she was in and began to walk away. She slowly began to chew on it quietly, as she walked to another aisle filled with magazines. She went to the magazine section in the store, and found magazine section focused on sports. She took out one magazine in particular and began to go through the pages as a way to pass time, as she decided to read articles to pass the time. Articles regarding a particular athlete she was extremely fond of. She sat down on the ground and began to slowly go over the article, as this issue of the magazine was one focused on a peculiar baseball player. One that she had a very deep obsession for, as she began to repeat the player's name to herself, over and over again.

"Leon,"

* * *

Komaru was yawning loudly as she had awakened in the bed and looked around and saw that Mukuro was still asleep, with her eyes closed and her head atop the pillow it was on, sleeping still. Komaru carefully got off the bed, as she figured she let Mukuro get more rest, after what she saw the previous night, as she herself was now wondering about it, as she thought about who this Junko person was that Mukuro kept talking about in her sleep. She decided for now not to press the issue, as Mukuro didn't sleep as well as her, last night. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the door to the room they were in being knocked on. She walked up to the door and opened it, seeing it was Shirokuma, holding a basket full of laundry clothes.

"Good morning Komaru! Your regular clothes and Mukuro's regular clothes are cleaned up and ready to be used!" Shirokuma happily said.

"That's great Shirokuma. Thank you," Komaru said in a positive mood as she took the laundry basket full of clothes.

"No problem. Also Haiji said whenever Mukuro is ready, he's prepared to meet her at the meeting room, where you first met him yesterday," Shirokuma replied. "I'll go get you two some breakfast, so I'll be back,"

Shirokuma left, while Komaru heard noises stir from behind her. Komaru turned around and saw that Mukuro was now awake, and she looked a bit irritable considering what happened the previous night, and from hearing Shirokuma's voice just now.

"Good morning Mukuro! You sleep well?" Komaru said with a friendly smile.

"I've been better," Mukuro merely commented back as she got up from the bed and began to do some stretches. After a couple of minutes of stretching, she walked up to Komaru and grabbed the regular clothes that belonged to her from the laundry basket. "Going to get changed."

Mukuro went to the bathroom and after a brief time, came out wearing her normal attire and got her weapons from under the bed, and wore her ammunitions belt and black drawstring backpack. She felt refreshed after grooming herself as well. Shen then placed her sleeping pajamas in the laundry basket. "I'm going to go see Haiji now. See what he wants me to do exactly, in order for us all to stay here more in the future,"

"Wait Mukuro!" Komaru said, as Mukuro looked back at her from hearing this. "Before you head off to see Haiji, can I come with you?"

"Why? Why do you want to come with me to see Haiji?" Mukuro asked back, a bit confused. "Whatever he wants me to do, it probably doesn't concern you, and honestly I rather not have you do anything unnecessary. You should stay put here in the Resistance Base,"

"Well depending on what he wants you to do, I can help you out too," Komaru offered while Mukuro looked unsure from hearing that. Komaru took out her regular clothes from the laundry basket, then went to the bathroom in the building and came out later, after having groomed herself and changed back into her normal attire and then placed her pajamas into the laundry basket. "Plus we should at least have breakfast together first before you go see Haiji,"

Before Mukuro could respond back to Komaru, Shirokuma arrived back and carried a blue tray that had two small boxes of cereal, two small plastic bowls that had two plastic spoons in them, and two cartons of milk. Komaru went to grab the tray while Shirokuma grabbed the laundry basket that had their pajamas now.

"I'll go wash these up and get them clean, for you two in the future. See you two later!" Shirokuma said happily. Mukuro merely scowled at the bear, while Komaru smiled that the bear was so nice and helpful.

"Fine. Let's eat together and then we'll go see Haiji," Mukuro said quietly. They both sat across from each other, on the table in the room and poured themselves some cereal and milk and ate. Komaru decided to use this chance as an opportunity to socialize with Mukuro more.

"So Mukuro, anything you want to talk about?" Komaru asked, as she was eating her sugary cereal in peace.

"Not really," Mukuro answered her back while Komaru frowned in response.

"Come on! You got to open yourself up more Mukuro! Like… how about you try smiling!" Komaru suggested as she then grinned at Mukuro. The soldier just kept a stoic expression towards Komaru, while Komaru just sighed. "I bet if you met my brother, he make you really smile!"

Mukuro spat out milk from her mouth and began to gasp and cough loudly from what she heard, while Komaru just blinked confused in response, from what just happened, surprised with the fact she had liquid dairy all over her face just now. She was also surprised to see that Mukuro reacted so weirdly after hearing her say that about her brother. After taking a few deep breaths, Mukuro decided to say something back.

"Stop trying to talk to me while I'm eating. That's all," Mukuro said, looking annoyed while Komaru just sighed again and went to the bathroom in the housing structure they were in, to clean her face off. When she came back, she and Mukuro finished the rest of their breakfast in silence deciding to not talk for now. When they were done, they both went to the bathroom to groom themselves again and headed out to meet Haiji. The two walked to the same building where they met Haiji originally yesterday and stood before the doors to it.

"I hope Haiji is in a better mood today, compared to yesterday." Komaru said, as she recalled how Haiji grew angry when it was brought up how Mukuro worked for Future Foundation. "Especially considering he doesn't like Future Foundation apparently,"

"We'll see how it goes." Mukuro simply said, as she opened the door. The door then opened, and both went inside. They both saw Haiji sitting on a chair that was behind the table, just like yesterday. This time he was looking at a clipboard, while one of his other hands held a pencil, and beside him was a black gym bag that was marked with the words "Towa City," on them in white. Haiji looked up from his clipboard and saw both Mukuro and Komaru. He didn't look as hostile compared to when he had learned that Mukuro was part of Future Foundation, but his facial expression didn't look as welcoming when he had first met them. It was in a sort of middle ground between those two extremes.

"Have a seat you two. Didn't expect Komaru to be here," Haiji simply said as both Mukuro and Komaru sat down on chairs across the table from him. Komaru felt uneasy while Mukuro simply stared back at Haiji, waiting for him to speak. "After I spoke with Shirokuma, he managed to convince me to give Mukuro an opportunity to stay here longer. I have an assignment for her,"

"So, what do you need me to do exactly?" Mukuro asked, wondering what he had in mind. "What is this assignment you have for me?"

"A simple assignment. All I need you to do is procure more supplies. Whether it be food, medicine, clothes, and so on. I'm sending you out to a certain area known as Towa Riverside in Towa City. It's a commercial shopping district built along a river," Haiji said, as he gave Mukuro the clipboard he was holding. Mukuro looked it over and saw what Haiji listed items pertaining to food, medicine, clothes, and etc. "If you can procure any supplies at all for the Resistance Base, I'll allow you guys to stay for future nights."

"That's all?" Mukuro said back, in a questioning tone.

"That's all. You also have to survive and deal with all the Monokumas outside. That's all on you." Haiji said back simply, while Mukuro felt confident in herself to handle this request. "If you can't handle that, then you're going to have to seek shelter elsewhere in the future."

"I can handle this request," Mukuro said as she got up. "However, I want to discuss one further thing before I leave to do it,"

"And what would that be?" Haiji asked, as he looked a bit more irritated from hearing that.

"If I prove myself in this request, I want to borrow your communication device so I can contact outside help," Mukuro answered back. Haiji however looked annoyed from hearing this.

"I'll consider it, if you manage to pull this request off. That's all I have to say about that," Haiji said simply. "Keep in mind I'm not promising anything. So I advise you work on doing this request so you can stay here at the Resistance Base, as opposed to whether or not you can use the wireless communication device I have,"

"Fair enough," Mukuro simply said, as it seemed she would have to gain Haiji's trust before he would oblige her request. "Well I'll be off, and I'll be back later getting more supplies for the Resistance Base,"

Mukuro then left the room and headed off walking towards the gate that served as the entrance and exit for the area. She felt a tap on her back and turned around, seeing Komaru holding the Megaphone Hacking Gun on her.

"No Komaru. Don't follow me. My mission is to keep you all safe, and you're safer here then following me to this new area, neither of us have been to yet," Mukuro explained. "If something were to happen to you, that would render my mission for nothing."

"But if something were to happen to you Mukuro, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I want to help you out Mukuro!" Komaru said, surprising Mukuro from what she heard. That she cared so much about her, despite the short amount of time. "Plus remember that giant robot from yesterday that Masaru piloted? If we didn't work together, we couldn't have defeated it!"

"I'm pretty sure I could have neutralized it my- " but before Mukuro could finish speaking, Komaru walked towards the gate where Mukuro was heading and the Ultimate Soldier just sighed, as it seemed Komaru was very determined to go with her no matter what. She took out the map of Towa City she had on her, and overlooked it. She saw that if they continued along on the sewer, past the entrance to the Resistance Base to the right, they would eventually get below the Towa Riverside where the commercial shopping district was at.

"Come on Mukuro! Let's head over there and see what we can bring back!" Komaru called over to Mukuro with a grin, as Mukuro put her map back into the backpack she was wearing, sighed with a bit of annoyance, and then walked towards Komaru, and began leading the way, as they both left the Resistance Base and headed towards Towa Riverside.

* * *

We now go back to Future Foundation headquarters as Class 78 were once again having another meeting. This time they were all discussing what to do still. Makoto in particular was sighing as he couldn't help but wonder about Mukuro and Komaru, hoping they were both safe still. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he heard loud snoring. He blinked, wondering who was exactly snoring. He and everyone else who weren't snoring, looked around, till all the other eyes in the room soon saw Hiro sleeping on the meeting table, and was the one snoring loudly.

"Is that idiot sleeping?" Byakuya said annoyed, with a glare on his face towards the snoring sleeping Ultimate Clairvoyant.

"It sure looks like it," Toko added, sounding annoyed as well.

"Maybe one of us should wake him up?" Sayaka suggested.

"I don't know. Hearing him talk about his stupid fortune telling crap is kind of annoying sometimes," Mondo said, contemplative about that.

"But we're supposed to be having a meeting and we can't be having a meeting, if all the people in it can't speak up!" Taka reminded.

"That is a good point," Sakura said, as she nodded in agreement.

"Well if that's the case, we should wake him up then!" Asahina added in agreement.

"I'm not doing it. That's all I'm going to say about the matter," Celes simply said. "Hifumi why don't you do it?"

"What? Why me? Oh, fine I'll wake him up." Hifumi said a bit confused and a bit annoyed, as he simply sighed, deciding to just do it, as he remembered that Celes yelled at him the other day, and he didn't want to risk that happening again. He got off his seat and walked over to the sleeping clairvoyant and prodded him. However it seemed Hiro was a heavy sleeper as he was still sleeping. He prodded more but it seemed it still was not working. He looked around and saw Leon was rolling a baseball in his right hand and came up with an idea.

"Hey Leon! Throw a baseball at him to wake him up!" Hifumi suggested with a comical grin. Leon blinked his eyes briefly before rolling his eyes, from hearing that.

"No. That sounds stupid. I'm not going to throw a baseball at his face to wake him up. Besides this baseball belongs to my cousin, and I rather not risk damaging it or anything," Leon explained, as he continued to roll the baseball in his right hand.

Before Hifumi could respond back, Mondo just got up and walked towards Hiro. He did a simple, but loud and hard slap, on Hiro's face which woke the Ultimate Clairvoyant up, as the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader went back to his seat. Hifumi seeing this, decided to go back to his own seat in the room.

"Awake Hiro?" Kyoko simply said, as she was hoping this meeting would start now. Hiro blinked his eyes for a bit and whined in pain, now fully realizing he got his face slapped.

" **OWWW!** Who slapped me?" Hiro whined, as he began to rub his face from where he was slapped.

"That's irrelevant. We should already be starting this meeting," Byakuya stated.

"We need to think of ways we can help Mukuro while she's at Towa City without setting foot there ourselves," Makoto said, as he sounded very concerned.

"Oh, my bad. Sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night. I had some crazy visions that kept me awake last night," Hiro responded.

"Visions? Of what?" Sayaka asked curiously.

"It was weird. I was in Towa City… at least I think that place is Towa City, and using that Megaphone thing that Chihiro made," Hiro said as he thought about it. "And I was trying to survive there with some teenager girl with a lot of makeup and a black ribbon on her hair,"

"That's... peculiar," Chihiro said, not sure what to make of what he just heard from Hiro.

"Huh!?" Leon shouted out suddenly, as everyone looked towards the Ultimate Baseball Star. "Are you serious!?"

"What's wrong Leon?" Taka asked concerned, wondering why the baseball player would react that way to what Hiro just said. Leon calmed down a bit as he replied back.

"Sorry it's just… what Hiro just said about his visions. His description of the girl he mentioned, reminded me of my cousin," Leon said. "She wears heavy makeup and she wears a black ribbon on the back of her hair. So, it just sounded surprising for me to hear him just say that,"

"Huh? Is that so? I hope this doesn't mean I end up going to Towa City then," Hiro said as everyone else either just sighed or remained silent from what they just heard from him.

"Maybe in another universe, you would go," Asahina said annoyed with a sigh, while Hiro accepted the insult with a big grin.

'Well maybe my vision was of another universe then?" Hiro joked, while everyone else just stayed quiet, not sure what to say in response to that. Sayaka in the meantime decided to say something.

"I'm sure she's safe Leon. With someone like Mukuro trying to rescue her, I'm sure she'll be fine," Sayaka added.

"Yeah, that's true. Plus, she's a tough girl. I bet if she found a baseball bat, the Monokumas should be afraid of her if anything," Leon half-jokingly said, feeling calmer compared to before, as he knew that his cousin was a very capable person in general.

* * *

We now see a very peculiar area as we see Mukuro and Komaru looking around, both standing in front of a sewer hole they emerged from earlier. They were standing in a graveyard that had red and blue paint all over. It looked bizarre, yet still just as unnerving as a regular graveyard, if not more due to everything around.

"Geez, what happened to this place? It's like that video game with the kid squids playing their paintball matches or something," Komaru questioned, as she had visual imagery of her and Makoto playing said game against each other, on their handheld console hybrid against each other, trying to out ink each other back home, before the world went crazy with despair. "Hey Mukuro. You ever play Splat-

"Be quiet. Not now Komaru." Mukuro whispered as she pointed towards the end of the graveyard where two Guard Monokumas, were patrolling around. Komaru now noticed them, nodded back to Mukuro, and decided to be quiet. The two quietly sneaked towards the Monokumas who were looking away from them as they were guarding the entrance/exit to the graveyard, looking away from where the two teenager girls were.

"Komaru, get behind one and have the Megaphone Hacking Gun ready. I'll take the remaining one, and then we'll take them out," Mukuro whispered to Komaru, as they slowly approached the two Guard Monokumas. "I'll signal to you by making a thumbs up signal with my left hand,"

"Got it," Komaru whispered back with confirmation, as Komaru sneaked behind the Guard Monokuma on the right, and Mukuro sneaked behind the Guard Monokuma on the left. Mukuro then signaled with her left hand a thumbs up, with Komaru nodding in response. The younger girl immediately aimed her Megaphone Hacking Gun at the Guard Monokuma that was still unaware of their presence. Since it was holding it's shield in front, it's backside would still be vulnerable to break bullets, as Komaru fired one, causing the robot to blow up. The remaining Guard Monokuma didn't have time to react as Mukuro tore it apart with one of her knives, tearing it into metal scrap.

"Good. Those Guard Monokumas are gone now," Mukuro said with relief.

"Yeah. I don't want to be put into an early grave," Komaru said, as she gulped and looked back at the graveyard with nervousness. "I hope no ghosts show up,"

"What?" Mukuro asked both curiously and with a hint of surprise. Surprise that Komaru believed in such things. "Ghosts?"

"Well the thing is, ever since I was a kid, I could see ghosts," Komaru explained. Mukuro blinked her eyes back at Komaru, not sure what to say back. "I'm serious,"

"Well if that's the case then I know someone who specializes in the occult back in Future Foundation Headquarters. Once I bring you back there, you two can get acquainted about the subject," Mukuro said as the two pressed on. They now noticed something very odd as they made it out of the graveyard. The Towa Riverside area in general was proving to be extremely colorful. Everything was painted in multitudes of color, there were cardboard cut outs of Monokumas and random crayoned drawings in general.

"Wow. Did this place get hit with a color bomb or something?" Komaru pondered out loud, as the two walked down the street in the area. The nearby river was now also present with bridges that connected the area, to the different buildings around. One building that Komaru noticed nearby the area that caught her attention was a very high tower that seemed to not be colored, and was further along the area. "That's a pretty tall tower Mukuro,"

"Indeed it is," as Mukuro made a mental note of it, in case they would ever need to go there. "Come on Komaru. Let's go search the stores around here and see what resources we can bring back for the Resistance Base,"

Komaru nodded as the two stopped and found themselves in front of one large store in particular. That had at least two floors. It had a sign in the front that said Towa City Convenience Store. The two walked in and noticed that it seemed relatively unscathed from the chaos that had erupted in the city. Food, medicine, clothes, and other miscellaneous items. They noticed there was an escalator that led to the upper floor of the store as well.

"Wow! There's a ton of stuff we can take back for the Resistance Base," Komaru shouted out. The two then suddenly heard a familiar male scream which caused Komaru to freak out and for Mukuro to grit her teeth, as both wondered what that was about. Yukimura came running down the escalator with Yuta right behind him and both ended up tripping right in front of the two teenager girls, as they were so frazzled apparently. Both Mukuro and Komaru blinked their eyes, surprised to see the two were here as well. They noticed that both had the same black gym bag that Mukuro had as well.

"Yuta? Yukimura? What are you two guys doing here?" Komaru asked, confused. "I thought you two were back at the Resistance Base?"

"Well I wanted to help the guy in charge of the Resistance Base, since he's giving me a safe place to stay at and all," Yukimura explained. "He asked if I could help out, and I didn't mind at all cause he's helping me out and all. I'm just here to help get stuff back to the Resistance Base,"

"I wanted to help out as well and not just sit around, so I decided to go with Yukimura," Yuta explained. "I'm also trying to find a weapon to help defend and use for myself, against any Monokumas. No luck so far,"

"Well that explains that," Komaru said, now understanding why they were both here now.

"Why did you scream Yukimura?" Mukuro asked. Yukimura cringed and looked embarrassed as he rather not say why he screamed but ended up sighing.

"We were searching around on the second floor of this store to see what else could be brought back to the Resistance Base, when this broad with a metal baseball bat with blood on it showed up," Yukimura said with chagrin. "I'm not in the mood to be dealing with broads like that, so I decided to vamoose,"

"It looked more like it had red marker on it," Yuta commented quietly, while Yukimura had a pained expression pop up, feeling embarrassed again.

"In any case, me and Yuta are done with that second floor. We're just going to grab any stuff that's on this floor then high tail it back to the Resistance Base," Yukimura said, as his fear of women was acting up again, after seeing the girl with the baseball bat with red marks on it. With this said, Yukimura began to walk off, deciding to explore the rest of the first floor with Yuta following after him.

"Should we… look into the second floor then?" Komaru asked, uneasily, wondering about the girl with the baseball bat.

"Yes," Mukuro simply said as she wanted to see who this person was. Komaru gulped while Mukuro pressed on, as she walked up the escalator and with Komaru following in tow. The two girls now got to the second floor and noticed that items like clothes, books and magazines. They looked around, so far not seeing this girl mentioned yet.

"I don't see her-" But before Komaru could say anymore, a baseball went flying right nearby her head, with surprising speed, as the baseball smacked into a mannequin knocking it down, causing Komaru's body to tense up, and Mukuro to turn around with her knives drawn. Komaru slowly turned around herself, with sweat dripping down her face, as she and Mukuro now saw this individual.

"Who are you two?" asked the girl. She wore a black high school sailors uniform, a brown skirt, black pantyhose, black boots, and wore a black ribbon with white lacing on her hair. Her hair was chestnut brown, her eyes were a pale yellow, and her skin was fair. She wielded a metal baseball bat that was marked in red with the words "Leon," all over it. Mukuro could now understand why Yukimura saw it as blood. Komaru looked nervous, though she felt the girl's appearance was actually somewhat familiar, while Mukuro seeing this individual, now put away her knives, realizing who she was. "Are you with the kids and the Monokumas?"

"We're not!" Komaru immediately replied, feeling tense. "We're not with the kids and the Monokumas at all!"

The girl took the time to look at them, as she decided to assess them based solely on their appearance. After some time, she relaxed her grip on the baseball bat, somewhat, though still cautious of them.

"Alright. I believe you two," the girl said calmly back, though she still felt a bit apprehensive about them. "What are your names?"

"I'm Komaru Naegi," Komaru stated, feeling a bit less nervous compared to just before. "I was originally a prisoner till the riots began,"

"I see… and what about you?" the girl asked, to Mukuro, curious to see who she was as well. "She just has a megaphone apparently, but you're definitely more dangerous in comparison with what you have on yourself,"

"Mukuro Ikusaba," Mukuro simply said, as she had a very strong feeling who this girl was. "What's your name?"

"Kanon Nakajima," the girl simply said as she answered. Komaru blinked her eyes as the name clicked with her for some reason, while for Mukuro, she was glad to hear it, as it now confirmed once again, another one of the hostages connected to her classmates. Komaru turned to face Mukuro and whispered to her.

"This girl… now that I think about it, she resembles the one we found on that hit list card a while back," Komaru pointed out. Mukuro nodded, knowing exactly of what Komaru was talking about. "I wonder if she's another hostage like me,"

"Yes she is," Mukuro whispered back, as Mukuro turned her attention to Kanon. "I'm here to rescue people. I can take you to a safer location. The Resistance Base,"

"A safer location? Resistance Base? So far none of the Monokumas have bothered coming in here for some reason and I have plenty of supplies. Why should I leave this place?" Kanon questioned.

"Well we have a lot of other people there who are also survivors. Strength in numbers and all that," Komaru suggested. Kanon contemplated the suggestion as she thought about it in silence, before she decided to answer back.

"My goal is to escape this city, so I can find someone close to me. The problem is, I don't know how to escape exactly yet," Kanon said. "I don't know if going to this safer location will help me achieve that yet,"

"If your goal is to escape this city, then I suggest you come with us," Mukuro stated. "I'm not originally from this city. I was sent here to help rescue people here,"

Kanon raised her eyebrows, not sure what to make of the new information she just heard from Mukuro, wondering if she was telling the truth or not. Komaru seeing this, decided to vouch for Mukuro.

"She's telling the truth. She helped saved me," Komaru explained, as she then pointed at her Megaphone Hacking Gun. "She's also the one who gave me this device which can help fight off the Monokumas,"

"What?" Kanon said, surprised by what she just heard. "How can a megaphone fight off Monokumas?"

Komaru looked around, seeing if there was any electronics around, on the second floor of the store. She saw a digital clock attacked to the wall that was still working. She aimed the Megaphone Hacking Gun at the digital clock, and shot a blue break bullet at it. As soon as the bullet made contact, the digital clock exploded.

"Because it can shoot electromagnetic bullets that can be effective on them, and other electronics," Mukuro explained. Kanon looked a bit more convinced compared to before, as she thought about what she saw and from what both Komaru and Mukuro said so far. "This place I plan to take you is a place that the children don't know about. Please trust us,"

Kanon was silent. She felt unsure as a part of her felt this was risky. These two were still strangers to her. Mukuro saw that Kanon was still deliberating and decided to give her proof, that she was someone she could trust.

"Let me prove to you, that you can trust us then," Mukuro suggested. "Komaru, do me a favor?"

"Yes Mukuro?" Komaru asked, a little surprised she was suddenly being asked a favor by the other girl.

"Go downstairs and wait for me. I'm going to talk to Kanon alone," Mukuro asked. Komaru blinked her eyes, while Kanon raised her eyebrows, wondering why Mukuro wanted this. Komaru however just ended up nodding in response, as she trusted Mukuro with whatever her idea was.

"Alright. Call out for me if you need me. I'll also check to see if Yukimura and Yuta are still downstairs and if they left yet," Komaru said, as she took the escalator back down to the bottom floor of the store. Mukuro took out her smartphone and debated whether to do this or not, and ended up sighing, deciding this was needed. She pulled up a class photo that had all of Class 78 in it and she then took her smartphone and walked over to Kanon and showed it to her. Kanon seeing this widened her eyes from surprise and shock.

"Leon! He's… in the same photo as you!?" Kanon asked with bewilderment in her voice. "How do you know Leon!?"

"Because he is one of my classmates," Mukuro whispered back. "We were both in the same class when Hope's Peak Academy was still around,"

"Is… is Leon safe? Please tell me if he's safe or not," Kanon asked in response, as she grew very curious.

"Yes. He's back at the headquarters from the organization I work for. I'm here to rescue you along with other people, and plan to bring you all there once I find everyone I intend to rescue," Mukuro answered. Kanon felt somewhat positive from hearing this, as she finally heard some good news from her time in Towa City. Kanon smiled in response. "Please cooperate with me, as I only wish to save you and other people I intend to rescue from this city as well,"

"Alright, you've convinced me. I'll follow you to that safe location you brought up from before," Kanon answered back calmly. "But… I want you to answer me one thing before I go with you,"

"What do you want me to answer then?" Mukuro asked back.

"How come you didn't want that girl that was with you, to be up here, when you showed me the photo of your class, on your smartphone?" Kanon asked back. Mukuro hearing this, inwardly growled but decided to answer as best as she could.

"All I'll say is I have my reasons. Sorry I don't feel comfortable answering that. Please understand," Mukuro asked. Kanon eyed Mukuro with suspicion. "I don't want to make things more complicated than they have to be, and I'll leave it at that,"

Kanon stayed quiet, taking what Mukuro said in. After some time passed, she decided to just sigh and shrug in response.

"Well whatever. You can choose to do, whatever you want to do. I just care about getting out of this city, and reuniting with my cousin Leon again and I know you can help me with that," Kanon replied. "I'm ready to go with you to this Resistance Base,"

Mukuro nodded to her, pleased she finally trusted her finally. Both Mukuro and Kanon used the escalator to head to the first floor and saw Komaru was standing by the entrance to the store.

"I'm joining you both now. You're friend here managed to convince me," Kanon stated to Komaru, who both looked happy to hear that and a bit curious.

"What did she do to convince you?" Komaru asked curiously.

"Let's just say she's good at knowing what people want," Kanon stated, confusing Komaru even more. Komaru looked to Mukuro who just looked away with a stoic expression. "Anyway, let's head to that place now. I'm curious to see what the deal with this Resistance Base is,"

"Very well. But we promised we bring back resources, so we're going to be here a bit, seeing what we'll bring back," Mukuro answered for her. Mukuro then turned to face Komaru." Are Yukimura and Yuta gone?"

"Yeah. When I went back down to this floor, I didn't see them," Komaru explained. "They must have left back for the Resistance Base with whatever supplies they have."

"Those must be the two guys I saw run away from me before," Kanon commented. "The one with the pickaxe was surprisingly more chicken then I thought,"

"Well you might want to learn to get along with him, since he's back at the Resistance Base as well," Komaru said awkwardly back. Komaru then pulled up a manga and pointed at it excitedly. "Look what I found Mukuro!"

"Another manga?" Mukuro said with rolled eyes. "What's this one about?"

"It's the second volume of The Bomb Inside Her!" Komaru answered excitedly, while Kanon blinked her eyes and Mukuro just listened. "This summary for this volume is about the following; Yumi Kayakuda continues to keep her distance from Shota, but even she can't keep her heart from longing for him. Whenever she realizes she is falling in love, she asks Shota to "bully" her to keep the flames of passion away from the bomb inside her. However, one day, while she was getting "bullied" by Shota in the classroom after school as usual, the transfer student Tokeko Koriyama, whose light of life goes dark whenever the feeling of love vanishes, steps in!"

"Huh… sounds like a complicated love life," Kanon commented quietly, as she thought about her own feelings for a certain individual.

"Tch," was all Mukuro sounded out, not wanting to say anything more. "And if you're wondering Komaru, I'll let you take this one this time,"

"Nah. It's okay. I kind of want to read them in order, so… you can get me a digital copy of this one, once we get out of here," Komaru answered back with a cheeky smile while Mukuro took out her notepad and wrote a note regarding that. She also took the opportunity to check off Kanon's name, in the page in her notebook about the hostages connected to her classmates. "Anyway, we should really pick up some supplies and head back now,"

After some time, the three left the general store. Komaru held the gym back, that had various things like canned food, cleaning supplies, some clothes, and so on. Mukuro took the lead, as she had one of her handguns and knives out, while Kanon wielded her metal baseball bat still. As they were walking towards the graveyard that had the sewer hole that led back to the sewers, Komaru started up a conversation.

"So Kanon, do you like baseball? Since you're holding a baseball bat and all," Komaru asked.

"Sort of. I served as a team manager for my cousin, who was a baseball player," Kanon replied.

"How was that like?" Komaru asked curiously.

"It was alright. I mainly did it, because my cousin was on the team," Kanon explained. "I hope he's safe,"

"Is that so? Well I hope he's safe too then. What's his name?" Komaru asked. Kanon simply pointed to the baseball bat and Komaru had a proper look at it, seeing how the metal bat was covered in red marker, repeatedly written with the name, "Leon," on it, multiple times. "I see… that's uh… a lot of red marker,"

"I just like being reminded of him, as much as possible," Kanon replied back. Before Komaru could reply back, Mukuro said something that caught her attention.

"Be quiet. Look ahead," Mukuro whispered as the three made it back to the graveyard entrance. They saw what appeared to be a regular Monokuma robot, walking around the graveyard, patrolling the area. "Alright, let's see if we can sneak up on it and-"

But before Mukuro could say any more, Kanon charged forward, with her metal baseball bat, causing both Mukuro and Komaru to look surprised. She ran with surprising speed, as if she were trying to reach a base on a baseball field. As the Monokuma turned around to see and hear what was approaching it, Kanon swung her metal baseball bat with great strength, knocking the Monokuma down hard. Before it could get up, she began to smash and bash at it with her baseball bat, till it was nothing more then scrap metal. Mukuro and Komaru caught up, as Kanon was done turning the bear robot into full on metal scrap.

"Wow! Remind me not to get on your bad side," Komaru said both impressed and a bit uneasily. Kanon just smirked back in response, from what she just heard.

"Good to see you can fend for yourself. That's an excellent quality to have," Mukuro commented. "That reminds me, back at the Resistance Base, we have this one Monokuma that's all white. Don't destroy him,"

"Why not? Aren't all the Monokumas trying to kill all the adults?" Kanon asked curiously.

"Not this one. Shirokuma is a good robot, that's been helping all the adults!" Komaru explained.

"We'll fill you in. Let's walk and talk it, as we head back to the Resistance Base," Mukuro suggested, as she then removed the sewer cover in the graveyard, and led the way, with Kanon and Komaru following, with Komaru making sure to close the sewer entrance as well, when she went through.

* * *

We now see Haiji in the same meeting room from before, as he was now talking to Yukimura and Yuta, who had brought back supplies with their own gym bags, and he looked pleased by what they've done.

"Nice job guys. I and the other people really appreciate it," Haiji said. Yukimura smiled at the praise and Yuta had a big cheeky smirk from hearing that.

"I just wanted to help out," Yuta said calmly, but glad that Haiji was now calmer, compared to the previous day.

"No problem Haiji! You're letting me stay here in this safe place, so I don't mind repaying the favor," Yukimura answered back. Just as Yukimura finished saying this, Mukuro, Komaru, and Kanon entered the room. Yukimura immediately freaked out upon seeing Kanon and hid behind Yuta, causing the tanned boy to feel awkward. "What the hell!? The girl with the bloody baseball bat is here!?"

"Calm down! She's not going to hurt any of us!" Komaru shouted out. Yukimura looked like he was ready to use his pickaxe with sweat running down his face, while Yuta looked unsure, while Haiji glared at Mukuro.

"Did you bring any supplies back? And who is she?" Haiji asked. Komaru calmly walked to Haiji, presenting him the gym bag and unzipped it, showing it did have various resources.

"As you can see, we did manage to bring back some supplies." Mukuro answered. "As for her, she's another survivor and she's not affiliated with the children or the Monokumas. She can also fend for herself as she easily fought off and destroyed a Monokuma with her metal baseball bat, while we were on our way back here,"

"I'm Kanon Nakajima," Kanon calmly said. "I'm willing to join and help out here, if you let me stay,"

"If that's the case, welcome aboard. I'm Haiji, and I'm in charge of the Resistance Base here," Haiji stated. "I'll let Shirokuma take you to your own room here. He should be outside,"

Kanon nodded to Haiji, happy that he had no problems letting her stay at the Resistance Base. Kanon then turned to face Yukimura, who gripped his pickaxe even tighter.

"I'm not going to kill you. That's not blood on my baseball bat. It's red marker," Kanon explained, as she placed her metal baseball bat on the ground in front of her, to show to Yukimura it wasn't blood. Yukimura and Yuta looked at it, and saw that it was indeed red marker and not blood.

"See Yukimura? It was red marker," Yuta said. Yukimura calmed down and relaxed his grip on his pickaxe.

"Alright, that was my bad. I can admit it," Yukimura said, feeling calmer compared to before. "Sorry about that Kanon,"

"It's no problem. Anyway, I'm going to find my room here at the Resistance Base. See you guys later," Kanon replied, as she left the meeting room. Mukuro then cleared her throat to draw attention back to her.

"Can everyone but Haiji leave this room? I have to speak to him about something alone," Mukuro said. Yukimura, looked confused but shrugged and nodded back, while Yuta and Komaru gave her a nod and concerned look. Soon it was only Mukuro and Haiji in that room, as she turned to face him. "I've proven just now, that I can take care of myself, have I not?"

"So, you have. I grant you and the others permission to stay here longer," Haiji said, though it still bothered him that Mukuro was part of the Future Foundation.

"Now I want to ask, can I borrow your communications device and know the location where you think it might work in Towa City?" Mukuro questioned. Haiji hesitated upon hearing this from her, and looked frustrated. Mukuro noticed this and noted it mentally. "I've already proven I can handle myself out there and bring back supplies. What more do you need of me?"

"I… I'll think it over. Let me sleep and think it over tonight and I'll tell you tomorrow," Haiji said unsure.

"If that's the case very well. But let me say one more thing. Do you want to die here in this city, or do you want to be saved, even if it can lead to something else? Think about it," Mukuro said, as she walked away and left the room before Haiji could respond. She saw Komaru was waiting outside for her.

"What did you talk with Haiji about?" Komaru asked.

"The communications device. I hope he lets me borrow it and tells me the location of where it might work," Mukuro stated. "If he does, I can finally contact headquarters and update them on the situation,"

"Then I hope he does," Komaru responded. "Well I feel pretty tired Mukuro. Ready to call it a day, and get some more sphaghetti and meatballs?"

"Not like we have much of a choice," Mukuro answered back with a nod, as the two made it to the area they were staying at in the Resistance Base, groomed and changes clothes, as Shirokuma came by to help them out again. They soon ate the same dinner they had from last night, and soon found themselves back in the same bed with blankets over them, as they were both about to sleep and call it a day. As they slept, Komaru said the following to Mukuro.

"You're making good progress Mukuro. Another hostage saved today and you managed to convince Haiji as well to let you and the rest of us to stay," Komaru praised happily.

"Yeah. So far so good." Mukuro answered her back. "I hope it keeps up,"

"Don't worry, it will," Komaru said happily back. "You're such a good person, Mukuro, doing all of this,"

"Please… please don't say that," Mukuro said uneasily back as she looked away from Makoto's younger sister, while Komaru looked confused. "I'm just… doing my job,"

"Well if your job has you doing what you're currently doing, then it's a job you should keep doing," Komaru said with a smile. "Good night Mukuro. Sweet dreams,"

"Good night Komaru," Mukuro said quietly, as Komaru soon found herself peacefully snoring away. Mukuro sighed and closed her own eyes, wondering what Komaru would think of her, had she known how she was involved with what led to the world currently being the way it is. She shook off the thought, and decided to sleep herself, getting ready for the next day.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **So that's the end of this chapter. What did you guys think? Notes as always.  
**

 **1\. Kanon was the character that Hagakure worked with, in Ultra Despair Hagakure, which was a bonus light novel you received once you completed the main game of Danganronpa Another Episode. Hagakure's visions to that, is a reference to that.**

 **2\. Towa Riverside is the area around Towa Tower in the main game, and is indeed a shopping district.**

 **3\. The Bomb Inside Her has multiple books you can find in game. Volume 2 isn't found in this location in the game, but it is found in Chapter 2.**

 **4\. Komaru referring to the video game involving the squids and the paintball matches, is her referring to both Splatoon and Splatoon 2. Considering that Towa Riverside in the game is extremely colorful, due to the kids painting and coloring everything in general there.**

 **That should be it for notes for now. If you want to point out, criticize, review, etc, then don't be afraid to do so. I hope you guys liked this chapter and the story so far, and till the next one.**


	11. Towa Tower Trials

**Finally back with the next chapter! As always, I'll address reviews for the previous chapter, before moving on.**

 **doomqwer, it's no problem as stated in the past, Danganronpa 3 IF is something in consideration (but not promised) at the moment. And yes, Kanon is indeed very obsessed with Leon in general in this series, from what we know about her. I thank you and everyone else who have been reading this story, and I am very thankful for all of you.**

 **As always I hope all of you reading have been enjoying this story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Enjoy!**

* * *

The next morning came, as we see Mukuro and Komaru in the meeting room with Haiji. The leader of the Resistance Base had asked Shirokuma to tell the two to come to the meeting room as he had something he wished to discuss with them.

"Alright… so after some time deliberating and thinking it over… I've decided to give Mukuro a new and special request involving a communications device to be used," Haiji said, though he said it with reluctance, as he was not pleased he was going through with this. On the table in the meeting room, was what appeared to be the wireless portable device that he had spoken of before, that was made from Togami Corporation, that looked like a black laptop with an antenna on one side of it. The wireless communications device that could be used, to contact others from outside Towa City. Komaru looked very excited to see the device, as the chance to finally contact outside help was extremely appealing to her, while Mukuro looked fairly pleased at the moment, that things were generally going her way. "As for the location where I believe this device will work, it's at Towa Tower,"

"Towa Tower?" Komaru said curiously, while Mukuro thought of a certain sight, she and Komaru saw the previous day. Mukuro took out her map of Towa City, she still had, from her black drawstring backpack, and looked it over. Nearby the Towa Riverside area where the two was at yesterday, was an area marked as Towa Tower. Haiji nodded to Komaru, deciding to explain in more detail.

"Yes. It's the largest building structure in Towa City. A skyscraper located nearby Towa Riverside, so if you two head back to over there, you should be able to find it." Haiji explained.

"What makes it a place, where you think it might work though?" Komaru asked curiously.

"Because it's the highest part of the city, it might be out of range of the radio interference that the kids are doing to all the wireless signals in Towa City," Mukuro decided to explain.

"Exactly. So you two need to head to the highest floor on Towa Tower and try this communications device out," Haiji added. "To see if it works at the highest floor on Towa Tower and to see if you can communicate with anyone outside of the city, to contact help for the situation here,"

"We'll see what we can do," Mukuro said to him. Mukuro and Komaru got up as they were about to leave before Haiji, said something that caught their attention.

"I'm also sending Yukimura and Kanon with you two. Just in case, to be on the safe side. Considering all the Monokumas outside." Haiji stated. Mukuro frowned, as that was something she definitely didn't approve of, as she wanted all the hostages connected to her classmates to not be put in dangerous situations. The fact Komaru would basically head out with or without her, was something she grew to accept, but she didn't like that Yukimura and Kanon were being sent out as well.

"We can handle it ourselves," Mukuro stated, trying to not sound frustrated. Haiji however shook his head for a no.

"As long as you guys continue to stay here, you'll follow the rules. Unless you want to no longer stay here, that is?" Haiji answered back, causing Mukuro to simply sigh, sounding annoyed, while Komaru looked concerned from hearing that. "Yukimura and Kanon are coming with you two and that's that. I already informed them of the situation before I spoke to you two about this, and they're alright with this,"

Mukuro simply rolled her eyes as she nodded back to Haiji. Both Komaru and Mukuro stepped out of the office. They saw Kanon and Yukimura standing beside the gate that served as both the entrance and exit to the Resistance Base. Yukimura had his pickaxe like usual, while Kanon had her red marker covered metal baseball bat. Komaru waved eagerly to the two, while Mukuro just had a stoic expression on her face, thinking about the situation. She along with Komaru, were to go with Yukimura and Kanon to Towa Tower, to see if the communications device she now had on her, to see if it would work. There was safety in numbers, and it helped they were all armed as well. Still she rather they stay in the Resistance Base and be safe still.

"I can't wait! To finally contact some outside help!" Komaru said happily. "You're going to be contacting Future Foundation, right Mukuro?"

"Right," the soldier girl answered back to her, feeling this would be a big opportunity. She could finally update them on the situation in general, and try to see if they could help her out in anyway. She was aware that they couldn't have any more people come though, but they could possibly still help out in other ways. "But keep in mind that's not a guarantee Komaru. This device has a chance of still not working in Towa Tower,"

"I know. But for this case and situation I want to hope for the best!" Komaru said with a big grin. She ran up ahead to meet with Kanon and Yukimura while Mukuro walked towards them.

"I'm ready to represent the Crazy Diamonds again!" Yukimura shouted with a smirk, as he held his pickaxe with eagerness. "Any damn Monokumas will be sorry if they messed with us,"

"Please try not killing anyone with that thing, will you? Especially with your girl phobia apparently," Kanon said as she had her metal baseball bat with her, while Yukimura looked a bit annoyed at her. "Seeing how you freak out so easily from what I saw yesterday, I don't want you sticking one end of that pickaxe into someone during another freak out or something,"

"Hey! I won't! And who told you about that!? Was it Yuta?" Yukimura said annoyed back at Kanon who smirked back at him, while both Mukuro and Komaru looked at each other with unsure expressions, wondering how this request was going to go. "Anyway, let's head to this Towa Tower place!"

Before the four could head off, they heard a familiar voice call out to them. The four looked behind themselves and saw Yuta running up to them.

"Wait! Before you guys go, I just want to say good luck to all of you," Yuta said with a big smile. "This sounds like a pretty big request from Haiji, so be careful,"

"We'll be fine. Thanks for asking Yuta," Komaru said warmly, as Yuta blushed from the comment. Kanon rolled her eyes, while Yukimura wondered if Yuta told Kanon about his fear of women, while Mukuro just had a stoic expression.

"No problem. Well see you guys later. I'm going to be helping Ms. Hagakure today with distributing the food and supplies we have, to all the adults here," Yuta said back to them as he walked away.

"It's time we head over to Towa Tower. Be on your guard everyone," Mukuro said, as Komaru, Yukimura, and Kanon nodded to her, as they headed out of the Resistance Base. They all began to walk out, as they were ready to head to Towa Tower.

* * *

We're back in Future Foundation Headquarters as we see the communications room. It was empty at the moment, though not for much longer, as we see Makoto entering the room. He immediately went to sit in front of one of the computers and tried to see what he could do. He decided to see if he could contact anyone on Towa City, despite the radio jamming, trying to find out what was currently going on over there. He soon wasn't alone, as his fellow classmates from Class 78 joined him, as they entered as well.

"Do you really think it'll work? Even the other Future Foundation workers gave up, trying to contact Towa City in general," Celes stated, feeling a bit skeptical, wondering if this would work.

"I want to try," Makoto said, as at the meeting yesterday, no one had managed to come up with a good way to help Mukuro out. The Warriors of Group were very clear, they would risk hurting their loved ones had anyone else from the Future Foundation entered the city, and that was something they couldn't risk, now. To contact someone from the city, would not be entering the city, so Makoto decided to see if he could today. "I know it's a long shot but I feel better about myself, as opposed to doing nothing."

"Maybe he'll get lucky?" Hifumi said, trying to add some positivity to the room at the moment.

"That better be the case," Byakuya stated, as he felt this was a waste of time and effort.

"Yeah! Why would the signal jamming those twerps are doing, suddenly stop today?" Toko added with skepticism.

"Give him a break guys. He's trying his best," Aoi said, sounding annoyed.

"I agree with Hina. We don't have many options at the moment, so for Makoto to try this, isn't a bad thing at all," Sakura said in agreement.

"It's good that he's trying, but will it result in anything?" Leon said, rubbing his head as he looked contemplative. "We already know that they've been jamming the signals, since the riots started in Towa City and I don't see that changing anytime soon,"

"I think… it's good that Makoto is trying though," Chihiro said quietly, as he hoped his father would be safe, from what was happening.

"Makoto is the Ultimate Lucky Student. If anyone can pull this off, it might be him!" Taka said, trying to be optimistic. "Him trying is a good thing and something I appreciate, in my opinion,"

"Hopefully that's the case," Sayaka stated, as she still hoped her idol friend in Towa City was safe.

"Come on Makoto! I envision you getting lucky today!" Hiro said with a big grin, as he liked the little pun he just said. "Get it everyone?"

"That sounded so lame man," Mondo said with rolled eyes. "But I do hope he does get in contact with someone, anyone from that damn place,"

"You can do it Makoto," Kyoko said calmly as she wanted to encourage him. Makoto looked at all his classmates, and nodded towards him with a friendly smile, as he acknowledged what he said.

"I hope so everyone," Makoto said, as he began to use one of the computers in the room. Thoughts of his sister Komaru, and his close friend Mukuro occupied his mind, as he felt tension growing within him, hoping they were still safe, and nothing bad has happened to them. "I hope I manage to contact someone from there,"

* * *

We now see Mukuro, Komaru, Yukimura, and Kanon standing in front of Towa Tower. The four were taking in the very tall sight, as the skyscraper tower looked massively tall. Nearby the tower were multiple police vans with closed doors.

"So, this is… Towa Tower," Komaru said, amazed by the sight. "It's amazingly huge, once you see it close up!"

"I really hope there aren't any Monokumas inside this Tower," Yukimura whined.

"Well we encountered some on our way here, so I really doubt what you just said," Kanon stated. "There are definitely going to be some Monokumas in that tower,"

"Good thing I had my knockback bullets earlier," Komaru stated with a grin, as she thought about how she knocked back a bunch of Monokuma into the river, at Towa Riverside.

"Well like always, we should be on our guard," Mukuro said, as she noticed all the police vans around the area, as she looked around. "Something about this area makes me feel concerned,"

The four looked around, till they suddenly heard some sound ring out, from what sounded like a speaker system. Mukuro immediately looked around again, and noticed how there was a PA system, setup outside of Towa Tower.

"Well look we have here! A bunch of demonic mousey mice showed up!" the sound system rang off. Komaru's eyes widened in fear as she recognized the voice belonging to a certain Warrior of Hope she and Mukuro ran into from the past, while Mukuro gritted her teeth in frustration. Yukimura and Kanon looked confused but had concerned expressions on their faces. "In case you forgot about me, which I wouldn't be so surprised at since I'm someone everyone loves to hate… it's everyone's least favorite Warrior of Hope! Jataro Kemuri!"

"Jataro… Kemuri?" Yukimura said confused, as he was unaware who that was.

"The fact he called us demonic mousey mice, doesn't sound good," Kanon added, feeling a bit frustrated and concerned.

"Him again. Of course, he had to be inside Towa Tower of all places," Mukuro grumbled annoyed to herself, as she took out her knives. Komaru gripped her Megaphone Hacking Gun. Yukimura held his pickaxe, and Kanon held her metal baseball bat, just in case anything would happen. "The place where we had to go to,"

"I see there are four mousey mice outside this time," Jataro said on the PA system. "Well that's a little bit too much hate for me to take at the moment… or is it? Well anyway, here's the deal,"

Jataro paused for a bit, while Komaru, Mukuro, Yukimura, and Kanon waited for him to continue talking, wondering what he was about to say.

"The doors that lead to this tall tower, are electronically locked right now. Meaning… none of you mice can get in," Jataro said in a taunting tone. Mukuro gritted her teeth, Kanon and Yukimura looked annoyed, while Komaru felt nervous. "However… I'll let two people into this tower, for the two people who win this game,"

"A game?" Kanon asked out, wondering what kind of shenanigans she was about to get involved in.

"Two people only!?" Yukimura whined, as he did not like the sound of that.

"Yep. Two demons in this nice tower is enough hate for me at the moment. Here's how the game is going to work. A bunch of Monokumas are going to show up. The two demons who destroy the most… if they don't make you four bloody meaty messes that is, will be allowed in the tower." Jataro explained. Mukuro looked irritated from hearing that, while Komaru, Yukimura, and Kanon had different levels of uneasiness and frustration present on their faces. "When all the Monokumas are gone, I'll look at the video footage and see which two broke the most. I'll say who the two winners who can enter inside are. Have fun!"

After Jataro finished his announcement, the four heard the sound of emerging robotic footsteps. The four looked toward the many police vans around the area, as regular Monokumas started emerging from them, as their doors were now open. Mukuro took out one of her knives and handguns, Komaru got her Megaphone Hacking Gun ready, Yukimura got out his pickaxe, and Kanon got out her metal baseball bat.

"God, I hate these fucking bears," Yukimura whined as his face had a mixture of fear and frustration on his face, as he held onto his pickaxe with sweaty palms.

"Better get to destroying them then," Kanon said with a bit of annoyance in her voice, as she held onto her metal baseball bat.

"Yeah…" Komaru said nervously, as she was glad she was with Mukuro, Yukimura, and Kanon, as fighting this many Monokumas at once, made her feel tense, as she gripped her Megaphone Hacking Gun.

"Get ready," Mukuro calmly stated, as she held her weapons ready to fight. The four separated as each of them began taking care of whatever Monokumas they could.

* * *

Jataro was in what appeared to be a security room, smiling mischievously at what was happening outside. Nearby him was what appeared to be an insect cage, curiously enough for some reason. He then left the room and headed elsewhere, as he wanted to take care of something. The switch scene as we see a silhouette of an adult women, that looked to be shaking intensely from fear, as she was standing in an unknown location, as a large humanoid silhouette was seen nearby her, facing her. Jataro himself soon made himself present in this unknown location.

"Well adult demon lady, do you have any last words before I make you go, boom, boom, boom!?" Jataro asked with excitement present in his voice and as he had an excited expression pop up on his face.

The adult women begged and pleaded for mercy as she didn't want to die, but Jataro absent mindedly didn't pay her any attention. Soon the large humanoid silhouette near the weapon fired something towards her, and the women screamed out of pure fear, as the object soon made contact with her. An explosion occurred, and the women was consumed by it. After it cleared, all that remained were her charred remains as Jataro looked like he was in heaven.

"That was so cool to see… now I made that demon just as ugly as me!" Jataro commented with glee, as he was glad to have done what he just did. "Hey I just made a rhyme, without trying to! Anyway… I better check back to see if those demons outside are done or dead,"

Jataro left the unknown area he was in, heading back to the security room he was in before, as the charred remains of the adult he killed just slowly burned away, no longer among the living in the world.

* * *

Piles and piles of scrap metal now laid about the front of Towa Tower. We see Yukimura sitting down on the street, feeling exhausted as all heck, as he had sweat on his face dripping down, while Kanon was sitting down, not breathing as hard, as she was used to a lot of physical activity. Komaru was sitting on the ground as well, tired and out of breath, while Mukuro sat next to her, feeling not really too fatigued, as all her soldier training had helped her a lot with her stamina. Seeing the people around her feel tired out, she took out boxes of raisins and water bottles and passed them along to the other three.

"Thanks for the water and raisins. I needed that," Yukimura said thankfully, as he guzzled the water he was given, while snacking on his raisins. "Man that was a lot of fucking bears,"

"You wouldn't last in a baseball game, would you?" Kanon remarked, while Yukimura looked annoyed at her. "But I agree. That was a lot of Monokumas we just fought now,"

"Thankfully we go rid of them all," Komaru said with glee, as she drank some water, feeling parched. "So… now we wait?

"Right. We wait till that kid comes back on the speaker, and announces who he's going to let in," Mukuro reminded. "Till then let's just rest till he does that,"

"Crazy kids. What the hell made them all go nuts all of a sudden?" Yukimura whined out loud.

"I don't know but frankly I don't care," Kanon answered to him. Yukimura looked at Kanon as if she were crazy.

"Why the hell wouldn't you care? They're the reason we're in this whole mess I think," Yukimura whined.

"I just care about reuniting with someone I know. That's all," Kanon said calmly. "That's all I care about, as far as I'm concerned,"

"Who's that someone? That name you scribbled red marker all over your baseball bat?" Yukimura asked curiously. Before Kanon could respond, they all heard the speakers in the area have a familiar voice emerge from them.

"Well it looks like the four mousey demons here managed to not get turned into bloody messes. Awww…. I was hoping for that. Oh well," Jataro announced. "But anyway… time I announce the two demons that scored the most… it's the demon that's using the soldier stuff and the plain looking girl with our special wristband on her! Those two can enter this tower!"

"Awww man," Yukimura whined, while Kanon simply sighed, not sure what to think of what she just heard. Mukuro wasn't surprised by what she heard as she went about taking down the Monokumas very proficiently, while Komaru was surprised she managed to do so well, though she was thankful she had the Megaphone Hacking Gun on her. Jataro then continued his announcement.

"Oh yeah… before I forget… if Mr. Pickaxe and Ms. Baseball Bat enter the tower, I guarantee some really bad stuff will happen to the special someone I have with me and squash him like a bug!" Jataro announced both gleefully and with a hint of a serious malice underneath his voice. Yukimura and Kanon looked angry from hearing that, Komaru felt nervous, while Mukuro wondered who was that special someone exactly, though the fact he said certain words, made her think of one specifically. It also gave her another reason to go inside Towa Tower besides trying to communicate with the Future Foundation, if what Jataro said was true. "So they better stay outside of the Tower and not go in, unless they want someone to get squashed. Bye bye for now!"

The speakers became quiet once more, as the four looked at each other in silence reflecting over what Jataro just said, as it dawned on them, they would have to split up.

"Messed up kid," Yukimura whined as he felt this whole current situation was not good at all.

"What should we do?" Kanon asked to Mukuro, as the soldier girl went deep into thought about their options entailed at the moment. After some careful deliberation she decided on the following.

"Go back to the Resistance Base and wait there. Komaru and I will go into Towa Tower and we'll see what we can do," Mukuro said.

"You sure about that? Haiji is not going to like that," Yukimura said concerned.

"Then stop by any of the abandoned stores in Towa Riverside and get some more resources for the Resistance Base to help placate him. Explain to him what happened and hopefully he'll understand," Mukuro stated calmly. "If he really wants to blame someone out of us four by the end of it still, tell him he can blame me,"

"Alright. If you say so. Come on Yukimura. There's no point in us staying over here at the moment," Kanon said while Yukimura just sighed, hoping this was the best thing to do. "You and Komaru both be safe in Towa Tower,"

"We appreciate hearing that Kanon," Komaru said quietly, hoping that both Yukimura and Kanon would be safe on their way back. Both Yukimura and Kanon began to walk away as both Mukuro and Komaru looked at each other, wondering how this was going to go.

"We better be on our guard Komaru. Jataro is waiting for us, inside this tower as well," Mukuro warned, wondering how this would go.

"Do you think he was telling the truth? That he has one of the hostages with him?" Komaru asked, feeling concerned.

"I don't know… maybe. Masaru had Yuta as a hostage with him, when we encountered him, so I wouldn't be surprised if the pattern continued. It's something I'll definitely keep in mind," Mukuro said quietly as she thought about it. "Are you sure you want to go inside Towa Tower as well Komaru? Towa Tower is going to be dangerous. A part of me wishes you would follow Yukimura and Kanon back,"

"I do. I really want to help you Mukuro, considering you've done so much for me," Komaru said back to her calmly. Mukuro couldn't help but think about what she just heard, as Komaru was proving to be just as kind as her brother. "And even if you said no, I just follow you anyway. I feel safer with you then not being with you,"

Mukuro rolled her eyes but simply nodded to the younger girl, and both walked to the doors that led to Towa Tower and entered.

* * *

Both were now inside the building, as both of them carefully walked in with their respective weapons drawn out. They looked around and examined the environment. There was an elevator nearby that was in front of them that had an operating panel besides it, some scattered debris around the floor, and parts of the clean tile-based floor was cracked, and some weren't.

"Look Mukuro! An elevator! If we use it, we should be able to make it to the top in no time!" Komaru said excitedly, as she felt happy to see it. Mukuro hoped it be that easy, but she felt a part of her, knew it wouldn't be that easy. They both approached the elevator and looked to see if there weren't any normal elevator buttons around it. "Huh? Where's the up and down button?"

Mukuro decided to walk over and look at the operating panel besides the elevator.

"Hmmm… this has a card reader on it. Look like we'll need a card to activate this elevator," Mukuro stated out loud.

"But… I don't have a card," Komaru said feeling disappointed they couldn't use the elevator.

"Neither do I. Looks like we're going to have to walk up all those stairs and all those floors," Mukuro said with a sigh. "Well we shouldn't linger. Let's go,"

Komaru nodded to Mukuro but she sighed while doing so, as the thought of walking up all the floors in this very tall tower, was very unappealing. They both walked around and saw the stairs on the same floor. They approached the stairs but suddenly saw what appeared to be trashed ramen land right before the stairs, just right now in front of the two girls.

"Huh?" Komaru said, confused by what just happened. Mukuro quickly looked around and saw what the source of that trash being thrown was.

"Komaru, get back!" Mukuro yelled out, as she leaped backwards as more trash was now headed towards to where the Ultimate Soldier just stood. Komaru seeing this, did just as Mukuro said, as she herself went behind Mukuro, from what just happened. She looked towards where Mukuro was seeing and saw what threw down that trash as well. It was oddly enough, what appeared to be a ball shaped Monokuma, that had arms and legs. This was a Ball Monokuma as its spherical shape conveyed. The Ball Monokuma retracted its arms and legs, as it was now fully spherical and rolled down the stairs. It then retracted its arms and legs out as it looked towards the two.

"What is that thing!?" Komaru shouted out, feeling nervous. "It's like a marble Monokuma or something!"

"Regardless, let's take it out!" Mukuro shouted. The Ball Monokuma looked towards them and opened its mouth as it prepared to spit more trash at them. Mukuro and Komaru seeing this, quickly readied themselves. Komaru quickly shot a dance bullet at it, before it could do so, causing the spherical robot machine to dance with its stubby appendages in place. Mukuro seeing this ran towards the dancing robot, and stabbed it's red glass eye hard with one of her knives. She quickly took the knife out, as the Ball Monokuma fell over not moving, now that it was now defunct.

"We better be careful of those along with the other Monokumas we've seen," Komaru said, as Mukuro nodded in agreement as the two took the stairs and got up to the next floor. However what they saw, caused Komaru to frown, and Mukuro to get annoyed. The next set of stairs were blocked off by a tall fully boarded up wooden fence, that was also messily crayoned all over. "What should we do Mukuro? We can't move on like this!"

"Calm down. Let's just look for another way up," Mukuro said as she looked around. She saw two conjoined brown doors nearby on the same floor as she pointed towards them. "Let's check those doors out. Maybe we can find a way to get around this,"

"Yeah… by the way, did you see the ceiling?" Komaru asked, while Mukuro looked confused at her. Mukuro looked up and saw that the very top ceiling of the tower was a fish tank, filled with crystal blue water and fish swimming within it. "It's amazing isn't it?"

"Focus Komaru," Mukuro stated, as she just headed towards the doors with Komaru following behind. They both went inside and looked around. The two found themselves in a room very similar to one they were in the past with white and black floor tiles, another arcade machine, and an open door that led to a different large room in the tower.

"Those kids and their arcade games," Mukuro said with a sigh. She looked towards Komaru and nodded back, as she readied a move bullet, and then fired it at the arcade machine. The arcade machine soon booted to life, as it showed a overhead camera view of the next room. A Ball Monokuma was facing a bunch of Bomber Monokumas which were pacing around. Komaru seeing this thought of an idea.

"Hey Mukuro. Do you think if I used a Knockback bullet on that marble looking Monokuma… I can make it go into the other Monokumas there, like if I were playing a game of pool with it?" Komaru said, as she had a mental image of that happening.

"Maybe. It's worth a shot, to try to take them all down like that. Fighting smarter is always better then fighting harder," Mukuro answered back. The two carefully entered the next room. They saw the Ball Monokuma that was facing all the patrolling Bomber Monokumas and both quietly got behind the Ball Monokuma. Komaru quickly fired a dance bullet at the Ball Monokuma, then quickly switched to a knockback bullet and fired at the robot. This caused the Ball Monokuma to quickly roll in placed, and fire straight forward, knocking down all the Bomber Monokumas in its way, and getting all of the Monokumas in the room destroyed.

"That was so awesome!" Komaru said with a cheeky grin, while Mukuro found herself smirking from what just happened. The two proceeded down the hall, and exited it from there, and found themselves on a different part of the second floor.

"Always keep in mind of all of your options. You're doing a good job using that Megaphone Hacking Gun," Mukuro said, feeling a tiny bit proud of Komaru, a feeling she was surprised she was having for the other girl. As if she were family or something. The two kept proceeding as they found another staircase on the other side, and managed to make it up also dealt with any Monokumas in the way. Like the other staircase from before, the stairs for the next one was blocked off, so they continued walking on the third floor itself, till they passed by a locker room area for both male and female employees.

"Say Mukuro. Can we take a break in the locker rooms?" Komaru asked. Mukuro stopped to look at her with eyes that were questioning her. "I mean I could use a breather. Maybe we can see if there's any supplies or anyone hiding in there,"

"Alright. Might as well see what we can find. Let's check both locker rooms then," Mukuro said, as she held out her knives, as she walked in front of Komaru, who carefully followed her. They entered the boy's locker room first, and both carefully looked around. Many dead adult bodies were laid about, causing Komaru to not want to be in the room. Mukuro however saw something that caught her interest. It was what appeared to be a small pink card, similar to one she saw in the past, that the two of them found in the hotel in Towa City. "What do we have there?"

Both girls walked up to it, and Komaru picked it up and looked at it. It was labelled with the name of Ayaka Haneyama, with her so called demon name being "Ayakanegon.". Mukuro recognized the person as another one of the captives connected to her classmates, while Komaru's eyes lit up with excitement, as she actually recognized this person. Mukuro noted the location for where she was supposedly at, that being the Towa Police Station that was labelled on the hit list card. Komaru cleared her throat as she decided to read about it.

"A well known Demon that used to be in an idol group. It's a dangerous Demon who makes boy Demons fall in love with its sweet smell. Devours men whole. It has a temper because it always got to be put in the corner on stage, so it's super crazy now. That side of it is also kind of cute, though," Komaru read out loud. Komaru then turned to face Mukuro with starry eyes. "Oh my god Mukuro! She's part of my favorite idol group ever!

"Really?" Mukuro said, surprised by her sudden excitement, and that it was for idols. Komaru nodded her head up and down with a ton of excitement.

" **YEAH! I AM A PROUD SAYAKER!** " Komaru shouted with glee, while Mukuro felt her eyes really rolling. "I would always spend some of my monthly allowance money on her latest CDs and merchandise! After today, we got to go find Ayaka and make sure she's safe! This just reminded me… Sayaka was part of Hope's Peak Academy as well. Did you ever have classes with her?"

"Yes," Mukuro said quietly, not sure how to feel from what she was hearing, as this was a conversation she was surprised she was having at all. Komaru squealed in happiness, while Mukuro decided it was time for them to head to the other locker room. When they arrived they both saw some dead female adult corpses there, and curiously enough, a manga. Komaru quickly walked up to it, and looked through it, while Mukuro saw herself purchasing another digital title in the future.

"This manga is called Spiritual Detective Nekopi." Komaru read out loud, while Mukuro and her sat down, and prepared water bottles, and raisins for both herself and Komaru, as they both decided to sit on one the benches in the room, to rest a bit.

"Let me guess, you're going to read a description of the magazine, right?" Mukuro asked, as Komaru grinned back to her happily, as Mukuro took a drink from the water bottle she had on her and ate some raisins.

"Nekopi, a high school girl who can see things that cannot be seen by others, receives a strange request. "Please make it so that Master can no longer see the ghosts of fish..." Meanwhile, in the city, a fugitive serial bomber keeps targeting the 4th floor of buildings... And then there's the romance of Tobari Yano! The 4th volume of the Hesitation series that connects this world and world to come!" Komaru happily read out loud. "Ghosts… huh. That reminds me, I told you about seeing ghosts, before myself, didn't I Mukuro?"

"You did," Mukuro said quietly, wondering about that. "I recall you saying about that earlier,"

"Well, it's not really about seeing, it's more like... I just feel I know. Like I'm feeling a pretty bad aura in this place, so I figure some spirits are around," Komaru explained. Mukuro looked back at the younger girl, blinking her eyes with skepticism, wondering if Komaru ever talked with Makoto about this kind of stuff. Komaru noticing Mukuro's blinking skeptical eyes decided to continue talking. "I'll give you an example! It was when I was in 3rd grade. I heard a strange sound in the night, so I woke up. I turned my head, and I saw my teacher from cram school was at my bedside! That's when I knew I could see stuff like ghosts and spirits!"

"Okay…" Mukuro stated sounding unsure, not sure if she believed Komaru or not. "You sure you weren't having a dream or something like that? Sometimes we all have dreams that can be pretty life like. At least from my personal experience, they can be,"

"No I swear it actually happened! He kept whispering, Komaru... Komaru... and when he noticed I was awake, he apologized to me and asked me not to tell anyone what I had saw!" Komaru said with flustered arms while Mukuro at this point still looked at her with skepticism. "And I know you're thinking, how can I back up what I'm saying? Well when I went back to school, I found out he mysteriously quit! Spooky, right?"

"…It just sounds like a teacher who's doing things they shouldn't be doing," Mukuro said feeling a bit disturbed, as Komaru surprised her more and more, as she learned more about Makoto's younger sister, who was proving to be a pretty quirky person in her own ways. Komaru just shrugged in response, as both girls rested for a bit, drank water, and ate some raisins. "Come on. We got to get to the top of this tower, and see if any of the people I plan to rescue are here or not,"

"I know, I know," Komaru responded back, as both left the staff locker room and proceeded on. The two continued on and entered a new room on that floor, that had someone waiting for them. It was a male Monokuma Kid, who held a note on his being. The Monokuma Kid handed them a note, and then quickly left through the door that Komaru and Mukuro entered from, and the sounds of the door locking occurred. Mukuro formed a scowl on her face, while Komaru had a frown form, realizing what just happened. The two looked around the room, and saw a bunch of keys all around, and oddly enough, nautical related equipment. Stuff like lifesaver rings, anchors, and diving equipment. Also, around were the paint cans, that the two have seen in the past.

"Well we should look at the note we have then," Komaru said quietly, as she looked it over and read it out loud. "Challenge. Find the real key!"

"I see those kids have those paint cans around here, like that challenge involving the vault we solved a while back," Mukuro noted. "Ready to detect some stuff Komaru?"

"Already on it," Komaru said, as she switched to using detect on her Megaphone Hacking Gun. Komaru walked around the whole room using detect, till she managed to find a hidden image that was painted. The image depicted an arrow going through three life ring buoys, and pointing at a key. "Huh? An arrow, going through three of those lifesaver thingies?"

"Hmmm… I wonder," Mukuro said as she carefully scanned the room. Her eyes eventually saw three lifesavers positioned the same way, the hidden painted image shown. Mukuro walked along the room, with Komaru following after her, and saw a key beneath the third lifesaver ring. She picked it up and walked to the door, that the two didn't come from. She used the key, and successfully opened it. "Alright then. So far so good,"

"I don't know about that. We still have a long way to the top of this tower. Aren't we still only on the third floor?" Komaru asked, as the two stepped out of the room, and were back on the third floor area.

"Yes," Mukuro answered. "We still have a long way to go, unless we can somehow get that elevator going,"

"Well I don't mind if it's with you Mukuro," Komaru said with a smile, while Mukuro couldn't help but feel mixed from hearing that, as Komaru definitely considered her someone close to be with. The soldier still wondered how Komaru would react had she had known, how she was involved with everything in general. The two continued to walk, as it seemed it would be a long day, unless something changed soon. Towa Tower was proving to be a lot harder to the two, then initially though to be, as they continued onwards. Little did they know, that around the corner, their prayers to get to the top of the tower much faster would soon be answered, as a certain person was nearby who could help them do so, as fate would have it.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **That is the end of this chapter. Notes as always.  
**

 **1\. In the original game, Jataro was actually outside of Towa Tower, and waited to ambush and surprise both Komaru and Toko with a bunch of Monokumas. In this universe, that didn't occur the exact same way, as seen in this chapter.**

 **2\. Komaru is indeed a big fan of Sayaka and does call herself that in the original game.**

 **3\. Ball Monokumas are another type of Monokumas that also made their debut in this game. You can also see them all on the arcade machines, that appear in Danganronpa Another Episode as well, as a reference to Pac-Man.**

 **Well that's about it for notes for now. As always, if you have any criticisms, things to say, and so on, don't be afraid to do so. Otherwise, I hope you're all enjoying this story so far, and this chapter. Till next time!**


	12. Legend of the Revolution

**So we are here at the next chapter! As always I'll address the reviews before moving on.**

 **Thank you doomqwer and I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I was technically one day off from Jataro's birthday (which is February 29th which only occurs on leap years), since last chapter was released on March 1st but it was something nonetheless.**

 **Thank you Blizzardfang for that comment. I appreciate that you think it's great so far.**

 **Wow Luckenhaft. You went really long this time. Soda and Ibuki are definitely odd but fun to see interacting like that along with Himiko showing up. Soda sure loved blowing stuff up and having a zipper mouth. Mukuro has a lot of interesting things for her journal as evidenced by all those shenanigans, and she and Komaru sure love to have their moments messing with each other. Mukuro apparently has played Ubisoft games with Chiaki, Hiroko really wants her favors done, Class 78 have a thing for Miu while Hagakure continues to be comic relief with moments of having a lot of weird dreams that like to reference stuff. Kanon has joined the slapped club and with the girls in general, and the 4th wall gets broken with Kodaka, Uchikoshi, and Taro doing stuff together. Very fun stuff to read as always Luckenhaft. Thanks.**

 **As always, I'm thankful to everyone reading this story, and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well!**

* * *

Mukuro and Komaru were still walking on the current floor they found themselves in. They were soon heading up on the next set of stairs that they were on. However, the two came upon an unexpected sight. They saw a male adult typing away furiously on a laptop. He had light brownish hair, was wearing a long sleeved white striped button shirt, dark green pants, and brown shoes. He had thin gray colored glasses over his green eyes, as he typed away on the laptop. Hearing the footsteps that Komaru and Mukuro caused from walking up the staircase, he turned around and saw them.

"Ahhh!" the man said concerned, feeling nervous in the presence of the two girls. "Are you two… with the kids in Towa City!?"

"No, no we're not!" Komaru said, a bit surprised to see someone like this, still around. "Who are you? What are you doing here, and what were you doing with that laptop?"

The man observed them for a bit, wondering if they were with the children terrorizing Towa City for a bit, while he felt tense, hoping they really weren't. Mukuro in the mean time had a strong feeling who this individual was.

"I'm… Taichi Fujisaki," the man timidly said, as he still felt nervous in their presence, while Mukuro felt a sense of relief, hearing that name. "As for what I'm doing here, I'm trying to hide from the children who have caused trouble for Towa City. As for what I'm doing with my laptop, I've been trying so hard to figure out to remove this wristband I have on me, that these five kids I met had placed on me."

Taichi now showed off his left wrist, which had the same exact wristband that Komaru had. Komaru's eyes widened, while Mukuro growled inwardly, not liking the fact the Warriors of Hope had another of the hostages she intended to rescue, had an explosive wristband on them.

"That's just like mine!" Komaru shouted, showing off her wristband to Taichi, which caused the man's eyes to become more surprised. "The explosive wristband you're wearing is just like the one on me!"

"So, I'm not the only one they have with such a thing on then," Taichi said concerned, as that troubled him, to hear and see such a thing was also on another person. "Well I hope this situation gets better, as I've been trying to remove mine with no success so far. I also wish there was a safer place I can hide, from all the chaos happening as well,"

Komaru and Mukuro looked at each other and nodded, as both came up with the perfect thought for what to do. Then both then turned to look back at Taichi, as Mukuro began to speak.

"Come with us. We can take you to a Resistance Base where all the adults are keeping themselves safe in," Mukuro asked, as Taichi looked surprised to hear such a place existed and felt relieved. "But since we're here… I was wondering... do you have a card for the elevator on the first floor? We're trying to get to the highest floor of Towa Tower,"

"Wait… you two want to get to the highest floor of Towa Tower?" Taichi asked, with both girls nodding towards him. "And as for your question, unfortunately… no. I don't have a card for the elevator on the first floor. Why do you two want to get to the highest floor of Towa Tower?"

"We plan to make contact with help from outside the city, with our communications device that's from Togami Corporation. Hopefully it works," Komaru answered. "But if you don't have a card, guess we're going to have to keep walking up."

"The children are blocking the wireless signals in Towa City in general. But there's a chance on the highest floor in this tower, the communication device we have might work, since it's so high up," Mukuro answered. Taichi went into a thinking position, as he thought over what they just said. He then looked towards them and smiled.

"If that's the case, then let me help you two. Also thank you two so much for rescuing me as well. I really look forward to this Resistance Base," Taichi said. "I might be able to get around that card reader, if you let me take a look at it with my technical prowess."

"Thank you so much!" Komaru shouted happily, as this was such good news for her, while Mukuro smirked and was pleased by the news she was hearing.

"Come on then. Let's carefully bring him back down then." Mukuro said, as she and Komaru carefully escorted Taichi back to the first floor, from the way they came in. Once they got back down to the first floor, the two took him to the front of the elevator and had him looked at the panel nearby it.

"Hmmm… let me see what I can do," Taichi said as he placed his laptop on the ground near the panel and began to type. "It might take a bit, so I'll let you two girls know when I'm done,"

The two girls acknowledged what Taichi said as they stepped away from him, as he tried to get into Towa Tower's security system. They kept watch over him, making sure no Monokumas, or anything dangerous nearby would attack him or them.

"It's been a bit since we've seen Jataro. I'm surprised he hasn't sent as many Monokumas to us here, like he did outside the tower," Komaru whispered to Mukuro, while the black haired girl looked back at her.

"Knowing that kid, he probably wants to drag this game of cat and mouse, as long as he wants, to make us hate him," Mukuro whispered back, wondering where Jataro was. The two hadn't seen or heard the masked Warrior of Hope, since they were outside earlier. Soon they heard Taichi catch their attention.

"Okay! I got it!" Taichi exclaimed. The elevator soon began to go down, as he turned to face the two. "Thank you two so much!"

"It's no problem at all," Komaru said warmly back. "Should we take him back to the Resistance Base now Mukuro?"

Before the black haired girl could answer him, the three people in front of the elevator, curiously heard the sounds of what sounded like knocking on glass. The three turned to face the direction of the sounds, and for both Komaru and Mukuro, it was familiar sights. It was Yukimura and Kanon, who had supplies with them, as Yukimura was banging on the glass door to get their attention, since the two weren't allowed in Towa Tower currently. The three decided to walk over to them and exited the Tower, as they saw the two teenagers.

"I thought I told you two to go back to the Resistance Base with supplies?" Mukuro questioned, wondering why they were here.

"That was the plan, but Yukimura insisted we stop by here and check up on you guys," Kanon explained.

"Well I just wanted to see, if they were alright!" Yukimura whined. He saw Taichi with them and looked at him curiously. "Well anyway… who's the adult with the glasses with you?"

"He's Taichi. He's another survivor like us and we found him while we were exploring Towa Tower," Komaru explained. Mukuro now seeing Kanon and Yukimura here, suddenly thought of a good new idea, that came to her.

"Can you two take him back to the Resistance Base?" Mukuro asked to both Kanon and Yukimura.

"I would really appreciate that. I've been hiding from the children for so long, so a safe secure place like this supposed Resistance Base, I would really appreciate being at," Taichi explained.

"Sure. We can bring this guy back to the Resistance Base," Yukimura said with a smile, as that sounded alright to him.

"What about you two though? Did you two get to the top of the tower yet, so you could use your communication device?" Kanon asked with curiosity.

"We just got the elevator working thanks to Taichi, who we found inside Towa Tower," Komaru explained. "We're about to head to the top floor and check it out,"

"After we're done here, we'll come back to the Resistance Base ourselves," Mukuro explained. Both Kanon and Yukimura looked at each other, and then at Komaru and Mukuro, and nodded in agreement towards them.

"I really appreciate this," Taichi said, as everyone turned to look at him. "For all of you, to have helped me get to this safe place, away from all the chaos happening lately,"

"It's no problem at all dude. Come on. Let's take you back to the Resistance Base," Yukimura said. The teen with the pickaxe turned to face Komaru and Mukuro. "You two be safe alright?"

"We will. Come on Komaru. It's time we get to the top of Towa Tower already," Mukuro said, as Komaru waved her hand towards Yukimura, Kanon, and Taichi. The three began to walk away, with Kanon in front of Taichi, and Yukimura behind the adult, as they wanted to make sure he was safe. When they were gone out of sight, both Komaru and Mukuro walked back to inside the tower, and stood in front of the elevator, which was now working and on the ground floor of Towa Tower.

"Let's go in the elevator and head for the top, Mukuro!" Komaru said happily with excitement building up within her. The two entered the elevator. Mukuro then hit the elevator button for the highest floor of Towa Tower as the elevator door soon closed, and slowly began to move upwards.

* * *

Silence filled the elevator, as both remained quiet. Komaru in particular had a big cheerful grin on her face while Mukuro was contemplating some things. That when they reached the top, they were finally possibly going to contact Future Foundation again. If that happened, there was a chance she would get to talk to Makoto again (which she eagerly wanted herself besides wanting to contact outside help). Since Komaru was also with her, she would obviously finally see him as well possibly. Mukuro looked at Komaru, seeing her so excited with a big happy grin she had.

"Maybe… I should tell her about Makoto being apart of Future Foundation finally," Mukuro whispered to herself. Mukuro then began to speak to the other girl with her. "Hey… Komaru,"

"Hmmm?" Komaru said, as she was broken out of her excited thoughts as she looked back at Mukuro. "What's up Mukuro?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about Future Foundation." Mukuro stated quietly, as she looked at the younger teenager girl. "If we manage to contact them, there are some things about them, I think you should know,"

"Like what?" Komaru asked curiously. Before Mukuro could speak further, the elevator suddenly stopped, causing Komaru to lose her balance and fall onto the floor, while Mukuro looked around, both annoyed and puzzled. "Huh!? The elevator stopped!?"

Komaru was now a in a panicky state as Mukuro helped her off the floor. She then walked to the elevator panel that had all the buttons for the floors and other functions, and desperately began to press the button for the highest floor. No matter how many times she pressed it, the button would not respond at all. Komaru's face began to pale more, while Mukuro looked at the elevator door itself.

"I don't know what's going on, but whatever the case, this elevator isn't currently operational unfortunately," Mukuro said, trying hard to not sound annoyed from what just happened. "Let's just force open the elevator door and get out of it for now. We'll see what we can do from there,"

"Yea-yeah!" Komaru stammered, feeling nervous again. The two walked to the elevator door with Komaru on the left side of it and Mukuro on the right side. Both carefully placed their hands on the respective sides of the elevator door in the middle, and both slowly pulled the elevator door opened. What they saw and heard, gave them both very mixed reactions.

It was an arena that looked identical to the one where they fought Masaru in the past. Complete with cheering Monokuma Kids in the audience, another Warrior of Hope standing on a terrace with an entrance behind him, and a metal fence like cage surrounding the arena. The cage separated a audience of Monokuma Kids, that were present again, screaming loudly in excitement. In front of Komaru and Mukuro was a gate that was open, beckoning the two to enter.

Mukuro now had a face full of frustration, seeing the current circumstances. Komaru however had one that changed from fear to anger upon seeing the Warrior of Hope now standing on the terrace. Oddly enough, there was something small beside Jataro as well. It was what appeared to be a small insect plastic insect cage with what appeared to be a bug in it.

"Uhhh hey! Why did you guys run in here? Did you guys think you could escape?" Jataro asked absentmindedly. He then smiled mischievously before he continued to speak. "But no matter where you run, it's pointless. The more you run from me, the closer you get. Cause… the world is round, right?"

Jataro then pointed towards the insect cage, that had the insect in it, which seemed to be lively as it moved around within it's cage. Komaru looked confused while Mukuro gritted her teeth, as she realized what Jataro had with him.

"I suggest you two demons come into this arena, unless you want this stinky bug I have with me to get squished!" Jatato threatened. Komaru was now really confused, while Mukuro ended up sighing. "Also, if you want that elevator you two were in to work again, you got to come to this arena here!"

"We should do as he says." Mukuro said with frustration. Komaru nodded to her, and both teenager girls reluctantly walked towards the arena. Once they were inside, the metal gate that was part of the arena, that separated it and the elevator that was part of Towa Tower fell and closed off that route out.

"I wonder why he has a bug with him though," Komaru whispered to Mukuro, pondering about it, still. Mukuro looked towards Jataro and decided to question him on something.

"Were you waiting for us?" Mukuro asked, sounding irritated. Jatoro smirked now, from hearing that.

"Yep. How does it feel to have someone waiting for you? Do you feel even more grossed out? Or maybe… do you hate me even more now?" Jataro asked with excitement in his voice, starting to build up.

"I don't like you, that's for sure," Mukuro replied back with an annoyed look. Jataro however looked unsatisfied from hearing that.

"No, that's a lie. When adults look at things they truly hate… their eyes are not weak like that," Jataro stated. "I know it. I've seen those eyes since the day I was born,"

"Let me guess, you wear that mask over your face, because of some trauma or something along those lines?" Mukuro questioned. "Not that it really matters,"

"Huh… trauma?" Jataro questioned.

"You heard her. Trauma," Komaru questioned. "Whatever it is, due to you wearing that mask and all, because you have something to hide. Why don't you just take it off?"

"No! You can't see me without it!" Jataro said in a panicky state as he began to flail his arms wildly. "Anything but that! If you see my face, your eyeballs will fall off!"

"Can you stop?" Mukuro asked, sounding annoyed.

" **NOOO! I'M SERIOUS**!" Jataro yelled out, as he continued to be panicky and flailed wildly. "If anyone sees my face, their own faces will blow up from the horror of it all!"

"You really need to calm down," Komaru said, with an uneasy expression, from everything she was hearing, not sure what to think.

"If your eyeballs and faces don't burn off, then… why did she force me to wear this mask?" Jataro questioned, while both Mukuro and Komaru looked confused upon hearing that. "Why was I forced to wear this stuffy mask, every single day!?"

Jataro stopped talking to calm himself down, while both Mukuro and Komaru looked at the boy annoyed. He then began to ramble and rant about himself, as past memories began to flood into his mind, replaying moments from his past. All the abuse from his mother growing up. How she hated him and made it very clear to him on a consistent and constant basis, that she hated him and wished she was never born. How she gave him the mask he now wore, to hide his face from the rest of society and the world. How he had ruined her mother's life for being born and how everything she did to him twisted and drove him in general to what he was now.

"I'm just that horrible. I'm just so ugly and hated! More then anyone else on this planet! I bet… my head got really twisted when the doctor pulled me out when I was born… and then my skin pores got all crushed, and hair got ripped off and my face got pulled, and my ears are barely sticking to my face like well done steak thrown up, and my lips are inside-out, and my gums are rotten, brown, dry and my nose is just a shriveled little lump of meat," Jataro rambled rampantly, as he took a couple of deep breaths before he continued talking. "It must be terrible! That's why she was ashamed to show me to people! She said I didn't look like other kids! So don't see me unless you want your eyeballs to explode! That's why I'm not wrong and why I'm right!"

"You can stop," Komaru said, feeling this was really not necessary.

"I regret making a comment about your mask at all," Mukuro simply said with a sigh, as she rolled her eyes from everything she just heard. "Sounds to me you want revenge against the adults who made you suffer, I'm assuming,"

"Huh?" Jataro said as he looked confused and more calm compared to before. After processing what Mukuro just said he responded back to her. "Oh. Ooooh… I get it. You're mistaken actually. My motive is not that silly and cheap. I just want to change the world. That's all. Not like you two really need to understand. You two demons are going to be gone in the world anyway,"

"We're not demons!" Komaru yelled out angrily, while Jataro ignored her as he continued to talk.

"We're going to make a kids only paradise and it's fine that no more demons will be around!" Jataro spoke. However, an unexpected reaction occurred that caused Mukuro, Komaru, and even Jataro himself to become surprised. All the Monokuma kids in the audience began to boo him. "Huh? Why are you all booing?"

"This gets weirder and weirder," Mukuro calmly said out loud, as the sounds of the Monokuma Kids booing continued. Komaru shook her head, as she glared at Jataro, and decided to comment back.

"Maybe because you deserve it!" Komaru yelled out with an intense glare, surprising Mukuro. Jataro looked towards Komaru, as she looked angry. One of her hands held her arm that had the explosive wristband on her wrist still, as it was shaking from emotion. She was reminded, how she still had this terrible device still stuck on her. "You and the other kids killing innocent people, turning this city into a nightmare to be in, and are still doing horrible things like placing a bomb on me! It's all unforgivable!"

"That's it! Those are the kind of eyes I was talking about! The eyes that scream hatred! The same kind of hate that my mom gave to me, every day I ever saw from her!" Jataro said with excitement in his voice as he looked so pleased from what he just heard. He laughed excitedly as well. "I'm glad we put that explosive wristband on you. Looks like you're finally disgusted by me, for real!"

"Komaru?" Mukuro said concerned, as she looked a bit concerned and still surprised from the other girl's sudden yelling, as she was still glaring at Jataro. She didn't know how to feel about Komaru's aggressive attitude at the moment. A part of her was glad she was in a sense, being more aggressive for herself, but a part of her felt concerned as well, as it as not in her usual character to be like this. Komaru just kept glaring at Jataro while the Warrior of Hope decided to speak.

"Well it's good that you hate me. But… I do want to say this still," Jataro said. "Because no matter what, no matter how much you demons hate us, we aren't wrong! We're just trying to bring some peace to this world!"

"No that's wrong!" Komaru shouted out frustrated. "You kill people and laugh about it and say that you aren't the ones in the wrong!?"

When she finished saying those things the crowd unexpectedly cheered for her. Komaru, Mukuro, and Jataro even looked more confused, as opposed to when the crowd was booing at Jataro earlier.

"These kids really are something," Mukuro whispered to herself, feeling confusion still.

"Huh? Why are you all cheering for the enemy again?" Jataro questioned loudly. "Hmmm… I guess it's that… I'm even hated by the other kids too,"

As if to answer to what Jataro just said, the crowd decided to audibly boo him, while Komaru and Mukuro stood, not sure what to think of what they were hearing.

"See? Even the other kids hate me! They really hate me!" Jataro cried out in horror, till he suddenly smirked and began to laugh maniacally from it. "I'm so happy!"

"Why are you so happy about being hated?" Mukuro questioned, still wondering about that.

"Because if I'm hated this much, then there's no point in faking friendships and trying to be liked!" Jataro smirked maliciously. "I'm free… to do anything I want! So let's get start-"

"Hold it!" Mukuro yelled out, before Jataro could do anything. He looked towards Mukuro, a little annoyed he was just interrupted like that. "I don't think so,"

"Huh? Why not?" Jataro asked curiously.

"Release the hostage you have to us. Give us that insect cage," Mukuro said, as she pointed towards the insect cage. Jataro looked at it, while Komaru still wondered about what the deal with that bug was, and why it was even here. It made her wonder why Mukuro even wanted it.

"Oh… you want Ms. Stinkbug back?" Jataro said out loud, sounding curious himself. He grinned viciously as he then picked up the plastic insect cage, as the stinkbug inside it scurried around. "I'm glad it's stuck in this cage, cause it's really stinky outside of it. Though I can kind of relate to it, since I'm kind of stinky too. It even has a cute name. Kameko I think it was called?"

"Is… that your pet bug Mukuro? Kameko?" Komaru asked curiously. Mukuro in response just shook her head for a no.

"No. But it does belong to someone and I intend to bring it back alive to that person," Mukuro responded.

"Who does it belong to?" Komaru asked.

"This isn't the time to talk about it Komaru. We'll talk about it later," Mukuro replied, as Komaru just sighed as she wondered why this bug was so important. Before Komaru could say more, Jataro interrupted.

"No one's taking Ms. Stinkbug away from me! She doesn't judge me and she's just as naturally stinky and ugly as me! Don't make me squash her because I don't want to!" Jataro whined and threatened. "Though maybe she's a magical demon that only made itself look like a stinkbug... anyway the only way you can get Ms. Stinkbug back is if you beat me! I'll even make this tower's elevators be able to go up and down again, as well as a bonus,"

"You don't want to surrender peacefully at all? You really want to go through with a fight? You can end up like your comrade Masaru," Mukuro warned, as she figured she at least give some sort of warning to the kid.

"Yep! If I kill you two, I can get all the hate from the people who care about you two! And that'll make it super-duper worth it!" Jataro stated with excitement once more. "I'm feeling like making some more demon BBQ right now! So enough talking and more demon killing carnage finally! Can someone hand me my robot controller?"

As soon as Jataro finished speaking, a Monokuma Kid soon appeared on the platform he was standing on and held what appeared to be a portable remote controller that resembled the exact same one that Masaru used to control his robot to attack Komaru and Mukuro in the past. Jataro donned the controller, as he placed the straps it had over himself, pressed the button on the controller and smirked with malicious intent.

Soon one of the extremely large windows in the arena (considering they were still on a high floor in Towa Tower) broke open, as a large blue mech robot smashed through it and flew in. It landed in front of the terrace that Jataro stood on. It had two grey bomb launchers on it's back, circular holes on it's palms on its blue robot hands, the ability to fly and hover with its jet engine beneath its main body, yellow glass glowing eyes, and a priest like aesthetic, which was befitting considering Jataro's position as the Warriors of Hope's Priest.

"Meet my Priest Robot! Doctor Von Gerolt!" Jataro said excitedly. "I'll make sure he makes you two go, boom boom boom by the end of this!"

Mukuro glared at the robot, while Komaru had a face mixed with both fear and a bit of frustration on her face. Mukuro took out one of her knives and handguns and took a combat pose, while Komaru drew out her Megaphone Hacking Gun and went into a combat ready stance as well.

"Now… before you two become demon bacon, let me tell you one more time… no matter how much we're all hated, no matter how much we're shunned… we're definitely not wrong. That's the truth," Jataro stated seriously towards them. "Because… Big Sis Junko, said so!"

Mukuro gritted her teeth, from hearing Jataro mention her sister's name. It definitely did not please her to hear the name of her sister, being said out loud by one of the Warriors of Hope like that. Komaru however felt the name was surprising, upon hearing it.

"Big Sis… Junko!?" Komaru cried out, as hearing the name made her recall something. She suddenly remembered that she heard Mukuro mention that name before, during her sleep, during their first night staying at the Resistance Base. She then inwardly thought the following to herself. "If Mukuro and I survive this, I need to talk to her about this for sure, no matter what,"

"Big Sis Junko, the only one who loved me, the only one different from other people! Big Sis Junko… the one who gave us our gloried hope!" Jataro proclaimed proudly as he was now sounding and getting more serious. "All the adults say she's the bad one, the one that needs to be punished, and the one that people should hate!"

Jataro then gritted his teeth in anger, as he was finally ready to start as his personal mech robot, Doctor Von Gerolt mech was now ready to fight.

" **WELL THEY'RE THE FILTHY ONES, THEY'RE THE UGLY ONES, THE DISGUSTING ONES!** " Jataro yelled out in anger. Using the controls, he had his mech robot, hold it's palms out towards Komaru and Mukuro. Upon doing so, the robot mech fired two missiles, from both of it's palms, the missiles painted in black and white, towards the teenager girls. "Get blown up!"

"I don't think so!" Mukuro shouted, as she took aim at one missile and Komaru took aim at the other. Both a regular handgun bullet and a break bullet fired from their respective weapons, taking down both missiles, causing them to explode in midair.

"Such pretty explosions you two made! Though I wonder about that megaphone thingy still… anyway… I'll make sure to make you two, get to be part of those explosions!" Jataro taunted with glee, as he had his mech robot fire another two missiles towards them.

"What's the plan for taking this one down, Mukuro?" Komaru asked as both girls responded back with their respective bullets, taking down another two missiles.

"I'm not sure yet. It doesn't have anything that strikes me as a weak spot yet," Mukuro said, wondering where the Priest Robot's weak spot could be. "I doubt shooting it now with break bullets, if it's like Masaru's mech,"

Jataro seeing that his missiles failed again frowned a bit, but instantly smirked upon thinking of a new idea.

"Hmmm… maybe I'll have my robot squish you two? Doctor Von Gerolt, get ready to squash them, like if they were rats!" Jataro shouted out loud. He piloted his robot to hover higher into the air and move towards them.

"We should split up for now! That thing can't crush us both at the same time if we're separated" Komaru shouted. Both ran in opposite directions, as the mech was now between them, as Jataro intended to squash them. Jataro seeing this smirked. He then had his Doctor Von Gerolt mech face Mukuro and had his mech hold both it's palms out. Two missiles were shot towards Mukuro, who immediately took out her handgun, and fired at both missiles, blowing them up in midair.

"Splitting up the demons will make turning them crispy, so much easier!" Jataro taunted. "Maybe the one with the megaphone gun thingy will want to become crispier!"

Jataro's mech turned to face Komaru and fired two missiles at her. Komaru aimed and managed to fire one Break bullet, but she couldn't fire out a second shot, as her Megaphone Hacking Gun ran out of break bullets and needed to recharge for those.

"Switch to something else quick Komaru!" Mukuro yelled out, as Komaru quickly fiddled with her Hacking Gun, as the second missile approached her.

"Got it! Let's try… oh I know! Knockback!" Komaru shouted out, as she fired a knockback bullet towards the remaining missile approaching her. The knockback bullet hitting the missile caused the missile to make a roundabout and get sent back towards the Doctor Von Gerolt mech. Jataro's eyes widened as he comically flailed his arms as he didn't expect that to happen, as a solid hit from the missile, knocked his mech robot down, falling onto the ground, damaging it a bit. Once it was knocked down, both Komaru and Mukuro saw something that stood out. The top of it's head, had a black and white armored plate on its head, now exposed, similar to the armored chest plate that Masaru's mech robot also had.

"Well looks like we now know where the robot's weak point is!" Komaru said feeling better compared to before. She switched back to break bullets and began to shake the megaphone to recharge it's break bullets faster.

"Its own missile hitting it and knocking it down onto the ground, also did some damage as well," Mukuro noted with a smirk while Jataro looked confused from what he saw. "Good job Komaru!"

"Huh? How did you do that with your megaphone thingy?" Jataro questioned, as Komaru's megaphone proved to not be normal. First by managing to destroy some the missiles shot at her earlier, and now having one of the missiles sent back at his Priest Robot. He frowned as he did not like seeing his mech get knocked down like that. He struggled with the controls for his mech robot, trying to get his mech to stand back up. Komaru then began to fire break bullets at the armored spot, causing Jataro to flail and struggle to get his robot back up faster. It soon got back up as he then refocused his attention on the girls. "Well it doesn't matter. Especially after this!"

Jataro had his mech move towards in front of his terrace. The Priest Robot then went into a kneeling like position, which confused Komaru while Mukuro scowled, wondering what Jataro was up to. Using the two launchers on it's back, one spherical black and white objects were fired. One landing nearby Komaru and one landing nearby Mukuro.

"I don't like the looks of these," Komaru said, as she backed away from the spherical objects.

"Don't get close to them. Regroup Komaru!" Mukuro yelled out loud, as both girls distanced themselves from the monochrome colored spheres. They soon began to flash red and then soon blew up, causing more explosions in the arena.

"Awwww. Von Gerolt's bombs are acting so slow right now," Jataro whined, not sure why the bombs weren't detonating as fast. He then shrugged as it was not a problem. "I don't know why even my own robot's bombs hate me, for not wanting to explode on time, but they still make pretty explosions, so I can work with that!"

"Sounds like something we should exploit then," Mukuro whispered to Komaru, as the younger teen could see where Mukuro was going with this.

"Maybe we can send them back at that robot, just like the missiles?" Komaru whispered back to her, as Mukuro nodded in response to that.

"It's definitely worth a shot," Mukuro answered, as Jataro fired another bomb at the girls now.

"This will definitely make you go boom boom this time!" Jataro yelled for glee, as he controlled his mech to fire more bombs towards the two, and landed near them. "All dirty demons will get sterilized!"

"No way!" Komaru yelled out, as she had positioned herself, where she had the bomb and Jataro's robot lined up directly in front of her and fired another knockback bullet at the bomb. Just like she and Mukuro wanted, the bomb was sent back towards the mech, while Jataro flew into a panic again. The Doctor Von Gerolt mech fell back to the ground hard again and was more damaged and charred compared to before.

"Why is this happening? Is this… my own explosive thingies hating me back day?" Jataro whined as he began to flail with his controls once more. Komaru switched to break bullets and began to fire rapidly at the armored plate on it's head once more, doing more damage.

"You might not mind hate, but your robot mech definitely does," Mukuro stated out loud. She smiled a bit, happy to see that Komaru was doing a better job fighting now, compared to the past. As if Komaru was a younger sibling to her. She shook the thought away quick, as she realized this really wasn't the time for such a thing though. The armored plate on top of Jataro's Priest Robot, finally broke away, revealing the weak spot for Doctor Von Gerolt. "And from the looks of the missile, bomb, and damage it's taken so far, it will eventually reach its limit and so will you,"

"Well I want hate! I eat, sleep, and breathe hate!" Jataro shouted out sounding mixed in general. Doctor Von Gerolt mech managed to get right back up, as the monochrome colored armored plate on its head broke off. He had his robot begin to move around the arena more wildly as opposed to staying in place. "Hate me! Hate me more! Abuse me with your dirty words! If you don't want any pretty explosions, I'll give you something else to hate me for!"

The Priest Robot went into another kneeling position and shot two spherical objects from its bomb launchers, that were different from the explosives it fired before yet were familiar to the teenager girls. Two Ball Monokuma landed onto the arena and looked towards the teenager girls, ready to attack them.

"We've destroyed these before, we can definitely do it again," Mukuro said, as she ran towards one, with her knives drawn and began to slash at it, while Komaru fired at the other one. The Ball Monokumas were soon destroyed while Jataro just smirked. He then controlled his mech to fire another two into the arena.

"These Ball Monokumas will teach you not to stop hating me! I'll let them do all the dirty, messy, and sweaty work!" Jataro shouted out loud. "In the meantime… I'm going to daydream about drinking day old cocoa, and have Monaca look at me like a piece of filth!"

"What's this kid up to?" Komaru said to Mukuro quietly, as she fired more electromagnetic bullets at one of the two new summoned Ball Monokumas, who retaliated by trying to spit trash at her, but ultimately ended up being blown up.

"I'm thinking he's trying to tire us out, like Masaru. This time using the Monokumas to do the job for him," Mukuro commented carefully, as she dodged trash spat at her, and slashed at the other Ball Monokuma, destroying it. "We just need him to fire one more explosive at us, for you to knock back at him, and his robot is done. We just need to prod him into doing so,"

"I have the perfect thing in mind Mukuro," Komaru answered back, as she thought of the perfect idea. Before Jataro could have his Priest Robot fire more Ball Monokumas into the arena, she yelled something that caught his attention. "Hey Jataro! You're a good kid!"

"What!?" Jataro cried out, as the things he just heard made him stop and not move, as he looked into the arena with a dumbfounded expression while the Monokuma Kids in the audience grew silent, silenced from what they heard. "Did… did you just say I'm a good kid?"

"Yeah! I bet you're the greatest kid who everyone actually loves!" Komaru commented, as she acted in a faux polite manner, that sounded genuine. Mukuro had to admit this was something better suited to Komaru to do, as she herself was not the nicest person, at least compared to Komaru. Jataro's whole being began to shake as he was definitely was not used to do this.

"No! That's a lie! Nobody can like someone as ugly and gross like me!" Jataro cried out, sounding emotional. "Don't say that!"

"But I'm not lying Jataro!" Komaru said as sweetly and with as big a smile as she could. "You're not gross or ugly. I bet you're really beautiful and pure, like the good kid you are!"

"Stop it! Stop it with your lies!" Jataro yelled out. "Don't say anything more you dirty demon! You're lying! You hate me, you really hate me, and that's the truth!"

"Nope. I like you Jataro! I like you so much in fact… I bet everything you said about your mother not liking you is just a fairy tale. I bet she loved you everyday with all her heart and was glad you were a part of her life, since you were born!" Komaru said pleasantly and with a sincere looking grin. This was the straw that broke Jataro's back, as his eyes twitched, and he began to flail wildly with emotion. "How do you feel Jataro?"

" **I HATE YOU!** " Jataro roared out as he decided to have his Priest Robot go nuts with explosives, as he went wild with the controls for his mech. " **KILLING SPREE BOMB PUNISHMENT!** "

The Doctor Von Gerolt mech began to launch bombs at a rapid pace, scattering them all over the arena. Komaru grew concerned while Mukuro quickly looked to the fences.

"Send that robot down with another bomb Komaru, then get near to where I'm standing!" Mukuro yelled out, as the Ultimate Soldier ran near the fences, nearest her, that separated the arena from the audience of Monokuma Kids. Komaru nodded back, and quickly lined herself between the Priest Robot and one of the scattered bombs. She fired another knockback bullet, and just like the past few times, the mech crashed back into the ground, stunned like before. Jataro blinked his eyes before he realized that he shouldn't have fired more explosives again.

Komaru then immediately ran towards Mukuro, and the stronger girl grabbed Komaru and threw her at a high part of the fence. Mukuro herself then leaped onto the fence. Just as Mukuro joined Komaru on the fence, all the bombs in the arena went off, charring the arena ground, and doing some more damage to Jataro's robot. Both girls leaped back onto the ground and Komaru readied her Megaphone Hacking Gun again and began to fire break bullets at the exposed weak spot, rapidly with fervor. The Doctor Von Gerolt mech soon began to short circuit while Jataro sighed, feeling like self-deprecating himself.

"Th-There's no way the Warriors of Hope... will lose to demons…" Jataro said quietly, sounding extremely sad. His remote controller began to short circuit, prompting the masked boy to take it off and throw it away from him. "No… way,"

Jataro's Priest Robot, the Doctor Von Gerolt in some bizarre glitch like manner, managed to fire one more missile. The missile was fired into the arena, only to turn around and crash back into the mech robot itself. A huge explosion consumed the machine and soon ended with a huge boom, that sent its charred metal remains all over the place. Jataro stared with his mouth agape, at a loss for words. One Monokuma Kid had appeared behind him and picked up the insect cage containing Kameko and then jumped down in the arena. The Monokuma Kid walked towards the teenager girls and handed the insect cage to Mukuro before turning around and going after Jataro.

Jataro looked all around him with an extremely nervous expression. All the Monokuma Kids watching the fight from the audience had now appeared behind him, with the one Monokuma Kid who had given Mukuro the insect cage containing Kameko, now joining the rest. Jataro couldn't move as fear paralyzed him and soon they all grabbed him. They pulled at him, as he struggled against their grabs which resulted in a rather odd sight. His mask ended up being pulled off and… he wasn't ugly at all. He had a pretty face, light brown hair with a bowl cut hairstyle and blue eyes. He himself was actually surprised and a bit happy… till the Monokuma Kids pulled him out of sight and the sounds of him being beaten began. His mask was seemingly the only thing that remained, as it laid in front of the mob of Monokuma Kids beating him.

The gate that was blocked off and that would lead both Komaru and Mukuro back into the elevator, now raised, allowing the two to get back into it. Mukuro took out her notepad and went to the page that the list of hostages connected to her classmates. She checked off Kameko's name and had a content expression. She then turned to look at the mob beating Jataro and pondered. Komaru had a calm but stern expression now, while Mukuro had a pondering one.

"They're fighting again… but why? What in the world is with these kids?" Mukuro questioned out loud. "Well I got Kameko back, so I can't complain,"

"Serves him right," Komaru coldly stated, catching even Mukuro off guard. The soldier girl looked at Komaru, as she was glaring at the sight of where Jataro was being beaten, not minding it.

"What did you just say?" Mukuro said concerned and sounding a bit surprised.

"Let's… just go Mukuro," Komaru said seriously, as she turned around and walked back to the eleator. Mukuro stood stunned, not sure what to think. A part of her liked that Komaru was now more aggressive, independent, and even a bit hostile yet… a part of her liked the bubbly, nice, and kind Komaru she first met prior as well. Mukuro ended up eventually turning around walking back, to catch up with Komaru, as the two were now in the elevator, and had its doors closed. The two soon had it go to the highest floor and rode it in silence, with the only sound being the scampering of the stinkbug Kameko, from her cage.

* * *

They had finally reached the top of Towa Tower, as the elevator doors opened. Both stepped out of the elevator and onto the highest floor and looked around. The highest floor had large square tiles, a receptionist like desk nearby the elevator, and large glass windows surrounding the floor, showcasing the outside of the tower, and showing the city around it.

"So, this looks like an observation deck," Komaru said out loud, as she and Mukuro looked around. "Let's try using the communications device here Mukuro."

"Agreed. I'll set it up on that receptionist desk over there," Mukuro said, as she walked over and placed the communications device onto it and began to set the device up for use, as she wanted to contact Future Foundation. Kameko and her insect cage was placed nearby on the desk, just observing the two teenager in silence, as Mukuro setup the communications device. Komaru then sighed loudly as she then began to speak.

"Mukuro… I think this is a good opportunity for us to talk," Komaru said out loud. Mukuro turned to face Komaru who had a serious expression on her face. "I feel you know more then you're letting on and… I'm now at the point where I feel I need to know more,"

"More then I'm letting on about what?" Mukuro asked back. "I didn't mind clearing the air about Future Foundation earlier, before we ran into Jataro again. I'm willing to answer questions,"

"Well for starters… this whole time you've been trying to rescue hostages that the kids that took over Towa City have, which is a good thing but… why is one of their hostages a bug?" Komaru questioned. "Like seriouslly... it makes no sense why they take a bug as a hostage,"

"I told you. It belongs to someone as their pet," Mukuro replied back, as she kept setting up the communications device for use.

"Yeah but… who's pet? Who does it belong too? I don't get why the kids would take someone's pet bug as a hostage still," Komaru questioned. "And that's not the only thing I have on my mind. I have a big question regarding someone I think you might know about,"

"And who might that be?" Mukuro asked curiously, as she continued to setup the communications device.

"Who's Junko?" Komaru asked, which caused Mukuro's blood to freeze. She wasn't sure how she wanted to talk about her sister to Makoto's sister. It was never something that came up within her thoughts as a possible scenario, since she originally intended to rescues all the hostages connected to her classmates as fast and simple as possible. Mukuro kept setting up the electronic device, as she was nearly done doing so, to contact the Future Foundation, as she felt uneasy about answering that, considering her own mixed thoughts on Junko. A big part of her still loved her sister despite her betrayal that happened at the failed killing game where she tried to kill her, another felt some frustration with her because of her actions hurting Makoto, and the last part was a mix of confusion and unsureness in regard to her. "Jataro mentioned her. Do you know her?"

"Komaru… I'm almost done setting this device up. Let's just contact Future Foundation and-" But Mukuro was interrupted as Komaru felt unsatisfied from what she just heard.

"Don't ignore me Mukuro!" Komaru shouted out. Mukuro looked back at Komaru as she had an aggressive expression. "I… I heard you say her name in your sleep, at our first night at the Resistance Base! You at least know who this Junko person is!"

Silence filled the room, as Mukuro and Komaru looked at each other. Mukuro felt a bit of aggression rise in herself towards Komaru, but just decided to focus on setting up the device, trying to not let it come out, while Komaru just sighed. The soldier decided to try to make small talk with her.

"What's gotten into you Komaru? You're acting so much more aggressive compared to before today," Mukuro asked with both curiosity and a bit of concern.

"It's just… seeing one of the people who put this explosive wristband on me… just brought it out of me I guess," Komaru answered back. "It didn't help that Jataro was the one who told me that it was explosive and that he was so adamant about wanting me to get blown up,"

"Well he won't be a problem anymore," Mukuro replied back. "Anyway… the communications device is ready now. I'm about to use it to contact Future Foundation,"

"Good. But I still have questions for you later Mukuro," Komaru stated. Mukuro just sighed and just activated the device. A video call screen appeared on the device as both Komaru and Mukuro looked towards it.

* * *

We now switch scenes and see Makoto and the rest of Class 78 in the communications room still, as Makoto was still trying to contact anyone from Towa City. Some of them looked irritated, some of them looked tired, some looked supportive, and one of them was just sleeping.

"Makoto… are you sure you want to still keep trying? The odds of you managing to contact someone still remain very low," Celeste noted, sounding bored.

"He wouldn't be Makoto, if he wasn't always so foolishly optimistic," Byakuya said, sounding annoyed.

"It's getting to be a drag man," Mondo commentated. "We be better off trying something else at this point,"

"Come on Mondo! Let Makoto keep trying," Taka reprimanded. "With perseverance he might be able to do it!"

"I believe in you Makoto," Chihiro cheered, as he wanted the best still.

"The signal jamming those brats in Towa City are doing, isn't going to let up!" Toko whined. "Why would it work now all of a sudden? Don't you all know the definition of insanity?"

"Yeah but Makoto has said some pretty insane things to us while we were all trapped in Hope's Peak Academy that ended up being true," Leon reminded. "That's how he and Mukuro got us all out,"

"Yeah that is very true," Sayaka added, feeling confident in Makoto.

"You can do it Makoto!" Aoi cheered.

"Not to discourage Makoto as I do support him in this effort, but everything does have a limit," Sakura stated.

"I feel like taking a nap," Hifumi said tiredly as he yawned. "Hiro taking one right now, makes me want to take one,"

"I wonder if he needs to drink more coffee," Kyoko pondered out loud, regarding Hiro. Before anyone else could comment or say anything else, everyone in the room heard voices that caught their attention. Even Hiro who ended up waking up.

"Whoa! We got someone on the line!" Hiro said with a big grin, and with an added yawn.

"Contacting Future Foundation. Can you hear me? Contacting Future Foundation!" said the garbled voice of Mukuro, as everyone in the room heard it. Makoto's eyes went wide as he finally managed to contact someone from Towa City. It also stood out due to being someone, trying to contact the Future Foundation themselves. An image on the main screen of the room began to pop up. It was fuzzy but two silhouettes could be made out and was slowly getting clearer. It was soon followed by another voice.

"Hello? Can you hear us? Someone please respond! Can you hear us! **HEY!** Can anyone hear us!" shouted another garbled voice. He then soon began to respond back.

"Hello!? This is Future Foundation! This is Future Foundation!" Makoto spoke out, while we now switch back to the observation deck in Towa Tower. Komaru and Mukuro's eyes went ecstatic as they heard a garbled voice respond that gradually became clearer and clearer, as well as seeing a screen that depicted a person on the other line that was unclear at the moment, but would soon fully clear up.

"Hello! Can you hear me?" Komaru shouted with excitement in her voice, sounding more like her old self again while Mukuro grinned that the device was working.

"We can hear you loud and clear! This is Future Foundation Branch Number 14! This is Branch Number 14 of the Future Foundation!" Makoto repeated out. The screens finally fully cleared up on both ends. Makoto saw Komaru and Mukuro, and the two teenager girls saw him, and the three looked surprised. " **KOMARU!? MUKURO!?** "

" **MAKOTO!?** " Komaru and Mukuro shouted out of happiness, relief, and a lot or a bit of surprise, as the boy and the two girls, haven't seen each other in a while, especially for the Naegi siblings.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **So that's the end of this chapter. Notes as always.  
**

 **1\. Taichi Fujisaki is met in Towa Tower in the original version of Another Episode. His fate like Yuta's is different from the original version, in this story.**

 **2\. Jataro's boss mech did not have an attack which involved summoning Ball Monokumas in the game, as that is something just only for this story.**

 **3\. Kameko is one of the hostages from the original Another Episode, that isn't directly encountered, unlike this version of Another Episode. Kameko is Toko's pet stinkbug that she has had since elementary school. Jataro calling it a magical demon, references Kameko's hit list from the game.  
**

 **So that's it for notes. Like usual, if anyone has anything they want to say, point out, criticize, etc, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you guys have enjoyed the chapter and the story so far. Till the next chapter!**


	13. Raining Distrust

**We are finally at Chapter 13! As usual, I'll address the previous reviews before moving on.**

 **From doomqwer, well we finally got past that cliffhanger and got to hear the girls along with Makoto catch up. So I hope you enjoy this chapter when you do read it.**

 **From Guestar, it's just I have a lot of my own possible planned stories I want to write in the future, already cooking in my head. I am not against the idea (definitely sounds interesting) but I apologize as I already have some possible stories in mind I may write in the future after this story is over. I hope you can find someone who can write this story and idea for you.**

 **From Darkoy01, thank you so much as that all means a lot to me. That was the intent to give DRIF a proper continuation (as unofficial as it maybe) as best as I could. DR3 IF is definitely something in consideration after this story is over, but like I've said in the past, no promises.**

 **As usual I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Mukuro and Komaru were staring at the screen on the communications device. Komaru in particular was really wide eyed from what she saw, as she saw her older brother who she had not seen for so long. Makoto was staring back at her with just as wide eyes, happy and surprised from what what he was seeing now. Outside, Towa Tower, dark clouds began to form as it was going to soon rain, as the teenagers were focused on each other, not noticing the dark clouds outside now, slowly starting to drizzle rain.

"Makoto!? Is… is that you?" Komaru asked, her voice sounding both amazed and unsure, as she felt so emotional at the moment. Tears leaked out of her eyes, as she felt so emotional, seeing that her big brother was safe and sound. "I'm so glad to see you again and I'm so happy that you're alive!"

"I'm glad too Komaru. I though… I never see you again. But to see you're safe right now, makes me feel so relieved," Makoto said, a sense of relief beginning to flow through him, as he was so happy to see his sister was still alive and safe. He was also very happy to see Mukuro was also safe and sound, as he then turned his attention to her. "And I'm so happy to see you're safe as well Mukuro. I hope you're doing okay. Thank you so much for finding and saving Komaru,"

"It wasn't a problem at all Makoto," Mukuro said warmly back to the boy, with a smile of her own. Komaru looked at Mukuro a bit surprised, as that was the nicest she had ever heard Mukuro say something. Komaru was surprised Mukuro was capable of having such a sweet tone when talking. Her eyes suddenly blinked as she realized something else from what she just heard.

"Wait! You two know each other?" Komaru asked, curious as she had so many questions on her mind at the moment, from what was happening. "And now that I think about it… is it because you're part of Future Foundation as well, big bro?"

"I am part of Future Foundation now. Branch 14 to be exact. Mukuro is also part of my division. However the reason I know about Mukuro is because we both met in Hope's Peak Academy though," Makoto answered back, while Mukuro looked away, as she felt a shy expression coming onto her face. Komaru noticed and was taken back once again, seeing Mukuro like this. To see the soldier girl having such a shy expression, was new and surprising to Komaru as well. "Huh… did Mukuro not tell you that she knew me?"

"I… I just thought it wasn't necessary," Mukuro quietly said back as she decided to interject, feeling a bit uneasy, while Komaru continued to be amazed to see Mukuro acting this way.

"Huh… so that's how you know about me Mukuro," Komaru commented, as she looked at Mukuro with a curious expression still, while Mukuro felt awkward in the current situation. "Why didn't you mention this to me Mukuro?"

Mukuro now really wished Komaru wasn't present with her now, as she would have preferred talking to Makoto alone, as the situation grew more awkward for her.

"I just felt it wasn't necessary to mention! Just like I said before!" Mukuro repeated again, as she was slowly losing more and more of her professional image in front of Komaru as this went on. She then faced Makoto with a serious expression, trying to drop the subject. "I apologize though Makoto if it's something you felt I should have brought up to Komaru,"

"Nah it's okay. I trust you had your reasons which are fine. It's no problem at all Mukuro," Makoto answered back casually to Mukuro with a smile, as he didn't mind at all while the black haired girl smiled back at him, in response. Komaru also noticed and was a bit surprised how well her brother and Mukuro were getting along, considering how she saw the soldier generally acted to everyone else in comparison. It also made her wonder some other things regarding the two, though she put such thoughts behind her as she had other questions pop up in her head, she wanted to ask about.

"Makoto… are mom and dad with you?" Komaru asked, sounding very concerned. Makoto's face saddened upon hearing that.

"No… no they aren't," Makoto said sounding a bit down now. "I don't know where they are. Do you?"

"I don't know either," Komaru said, as she began to sound sad again. "So, if you don't know, then… are they even okay?"

"It's going to be alright!" Makoto said, trying to keep positive. "Don't worry! I'm sure they're fine, wherever they are!"

"But you have no proof of that! They could be..." Komaru replied, then stopped, as she didn't want to finish that sentence, feeling more bad, the more she thought about it.

"There's no proof they're not okay either. So, let's just try to believe in hope for now," Makoto said calmly back to her. Komaru took some deep breaths as she calmed herself after hearing that from her brother.

"Thanks Makoto. I appreciate that. You were always the more optimistic sibling, between us," Komaru said as she smiled from hearing that from him.

"Being positive is something I always try to be," Makoto replied calmly. "But more importantly… where are you two right now? What's going on at the moment over there?"

"We're currently in a building called Towa Tower." Komaru said. "It's completely crazy in Towa City! There are killer Monokuma robots all over the place, and kids trying to kill all the adults!"

"That sounds… not good at all," Makoto stated, as he frowned from hearing that as it sounded to continue to be not so good over there. "Is there anything else?"

"I've managed to secure some of the hostages so far." Mukuro stated calmly, as Makoto looked relieved to have heard that. She walked over to where the insect cage was in the room and picked it up, as Kameko still scampered about within it, showing that she had the insect hostage with her. "The ones I managed to secure are all at a safe location, away from the chaos so far. Still searching for the remaining ones. Only Komaru and Toko's pet stinkbug Kameko are here with me. Kameko because I just rescued her and Komaru, because your sister has a bad habit of following me, even when I tell her not to,"

"Hey!" Komaru whined and pouted, while Makoto just sighed. "And who's this Toko person? Kameko is Toko's pet?"

"Well that's good to hear Mukuro." Makoto said with a smile. "As for who Toko is… she's one of our classmates Komaru,"

"Toko is a classmate to you two? And her pet bug was a hostage here in Towa City?" Komaru said out loud, really confused by this. "Wait… what?"

"Looks like I have more explaining to do," Makoto said, as he took a deep breath and let some air out. "Toko is both a classmate to me and Mukuro, while we were still in Hope's Peak Academy. Her pet bug is Kameko who Mukuro now has with her, from the looks of it."

"But why would they kidnap her pet bug to begin with?" Komaru asked curiously, as it was something she was still very curious about. Makoto and Mukuro looked at each other, their faces looking towards each other for guidance. They both then nodded, deciding they should tell Komaru about this, though Mukuro hoped this would be alright as this was something she felt was really unnecessary.

"The reason they kidnapped Kameko… and you… and every other hostage you have met so far, is because each and every one of you, are all connected to Class 78 of Hope's Peak," Makoto explained.

"Because…we're all connected to Class 78… of Hope's Peak Academy?" Komaru said out loud, still confused. "What's… special about Class 78?"

"So Class 78 was our class in Hope's Peak Academy and… all the hostages in Towa City that was brought and held there are each connected to one of the classmates from that class," Makoto explained. "And the reason for that was… everyone from Class 78 was held in Hope's Peak Academy by the mastermind behind all of this. Trying to make us commit murder… they would use you and the other hostages as motives, to force us to try to kill each other. The mastermind is also the person responsible for The Tragedy itself,"

Komaru's eyes widened from the additional info she just heard. It sounded just as crazy as her current situation, in its own way. Her brother Makoto, Mukuro who she's been with, and the rest of their class was all trapped in their school, in an attempt to kill each other from some mastermind, and that herself and the other hostages were motives to do so? Makoto seeing this decided to continue, while Mukuro felt awkwardness in her body settle in, as this wasn't something she wasn't comfortable to hear discussed out loud with Komaru.

"All of us at Class 78 saw a video of our respective loved ones, and that the mastermind had each of them all abducted. The mastermind stated they would be harmed, unless one of us actually started to try to kill each other," Makoto continued to explain. "But thankfully, all of us in Class 78 managed to escape Hope's Peak Academy before anyone started to kill each other."

"I'm glad to hear you all managed to get away from that situation," Komaru said, glad to hear her brother and his classmates managed to escape. "But I don't get it… what does this mastermind want out of all of this? Why are they doing all of this?"

"Despair," Mukuro stated calmly and with a bit of reluctance, as Komaru turned to face her. "The mastermind behind all of this wants despair. Any despair created from everything happening, is what the mastermind desires,"

"The mastermind wants… despair?" Komaru said, still confused, especially by the motive, from what what she just heard. "That makes no sense at all! Why would this mastermind want despair?"

"Because… it is the mastermind's obsession," Mukuro said quietly, thinking about Junko, as a part of her still always wondered about her sister. "To the mastermind, despair is pretty much everything, so the more despair there is, the better. The mastermind is also known as the True Ultimate Despair, as despair is their embodiment,"

Komaru was at a loss for words, as the more information she had come to know, the more she felt confused. The mastermind's obsession with despair was the cause of all this madness? Then it made her wonder who the actual identity of this despair obsessed mastermind was.

"Makoto… Mukuro… do you two know who the mastermind is?" Komaru asked, sounding more curious. Makoto was about to speak but stopped, as he realized that might have been a touchy subject, especially for Mukuro who was present. Mukuro felt her blood freeze again, as talking about Junko in this kind of context to Komaru made her feel uncomfortable. Both remained quiet, as Komaru looked at the two and was waiting for a response. "Do you two don't know who it is then?"

Makoto and Mukuro continued to be quiet, as both looked at each other, debating whether to tell Komaru the mastermind's identity. Makoto didn't want to lie to his sister, but at the same time, wasn't sure if this was the right time and place to talk about this, for various reasons, while Mukuro herself felt uneasy still, regarding telling Komaru about Junko, as Junko was still her sister. Komaru was seeing their silence on the subject. She soon had a frustrated expression form on her face, as she had grown tired of this, and that even her brother was reluctant to tell her certain things.

"Why can't either of you say something? Who is the mastermind's identity?" Komaru asked. They continued to be silent and she grunted in frustration. She tried to go through her own information and tried to come up with who it could be. Then she just remembered that she was just asking Mukuro about this Junko person earlier, due to hearing Jataro mention it, and Mukuro herself mention it in the past. "Is the mastermind… this Junko person?"

Mukuro felt her eyes widen, while Makoto hesitated, but slowly nodded back to Komaru to answer her, and the black haired girl felt multiple emotions within her, as it seemed to be out in the open now, regarding Junko to Komaru.

"So this Junko person is the mastermind? Why were you two so hesitant to talk about her?" Komaru asked, as she wondered why they would hide the name of the mastermind. Mukuro stayed silent still, while Makoto thought of what to say. He then finally came up with something to say.

"Because… she was our former classmate," Makoto said sadly, wondering himself about her, while Komaru's eyes widened and Mukuro felt uneasy. "She was a part of Class 78. She's also responsible for what I've told you so far,"

"She… she was your former classmate!?" Komaru shouted out loud sounding and looking extremely surprised. "One of your classmates caused The Tragedy!? **HOW!?** "

"She has many people following under her," Mukuro reluctantly decided to add. "Junko… has managed to convince and influence many people to follow her despair related philosophies. They are known as the Remnants of Despair and continue to act under her."

"It's just as Mukuro says. Junko has many followers under her and she isn't to be taken lightly. She's an extremely dangerous and competent person," Makoto said.

"Then… the Warriors of Hope are part of her Remnants of Despair group then? One of the kids who are causing all of the chaos here, mentioned her!" Komaru said as she was starting to see things starting to connect.

"Are they? I was wondering if those kids were affiliated with her or not, but it seems so from what you just told me," Makoto answered. "Makes sense considering they control all of the Monokumas, and Junko herself has used those in the past. So yeah, I guess so Komaru,"

Komaru felt very uneasy hearing about this person. How Junko had managed to cause so much chaos and destruction, solely just for her pursuit of despair. How she had so many under her, and even how that included a group of dangerous children.

"Where is Junko now?" Komaru asked, as she was concerned where the mastermind of all this despair related madness was.

"We don't know," Mukuro answered. "After we escaped Hope's Peak Academy, she disappeared and is currently in hiding somewhere,"

"It is something that Future Foundation is looking into," Makoto said. "But right now, we need to focus on getting you, and the other hostages out of Towa City."

"Just listening to you guys talk about this kind of stuff… I can't believe this is all real," Komaru said, as the other two focused on the younger teen. "This is all so crazy and messed up! Like this wristband the Warriors of Hope put on me. If I try to leave the city with it still on me, it's going to blow up! Please tell me Future Foundation can remove it and then get me and the others out of here!"

Makoto's face paled, and even looked more concern then before, as he heard that. His face felt extreme emotion, as he even scowled as well, angry that his sister was in this situation.

"But those Warriors of Hope have said, that we can't enter Towa City, unless we want to risk them harming the hostages," Makoto said, sounding extremely frustrated. "So we can't risk that, as there are still hostages that Mukuro has yet to save yet, from what she said before,"

"Then… how many remaining hostages do you need to save and secure then Mukuro?" Komaru asked to the other girl, as the soldier brought up her notepad. She went over her notes, before answering her back.

"There were fourteen hostages in total I have to save. Seven of them are saved, including you and Kameko, so that makes only seven hostages left. Seven hostages I need to get safe and secured," Mukuro answered. "So, I'm halfway done,"

"That's really good to hear Mukuro," Makoto said with a smile. "Thank you for saving the hostages you've saved so far Mukuro. I also thank you for still remaining there to get the remaining ones,"

"Don't thank me yet Makoto. I still have to get them all out of Towa City," Mukuro said. "But I appreciate the sentiment,"

"No problem," Makoto said. "You and Komaru stay safe still, as well as everyone else,"

"Thanks big bro," Komaru said, feeling glad to have finally caught up with her brother again, as she cared a lot about him. Suddenly the sound of static began to occur, and the screen began to become fuzzy, causing the three to become confused and concerned.

"Huh!?" all three said out nervously, as the disturbance continued.

"Komaru! Mukuro! You two please be safe!" Makoto managed to yell out, right before the screen went blank on the communications device, as it now had a blank black screen on now.

* * *

We now focus on the communications room, where Makoto and the other classmates of Class 78 were, as they all had mixed reactions from what they've heard and from what just happened. Before anyone could comment, the screen that Makoto was using to speak with both Mukuro and Komaru changed to depict a different person, at a different location, causing them all confusion. It was of a green haired child wearing a dress, sitting in a wheelchair. One they all saw in the past from a certain announcement made to Towa City and to the Future Foundation.

"Why hello!" Monaca said with glee, in a way that sounded unsettling. "You must be Mr. Makoto Naegi! Nice to finally see and meet you!"

Makoto hesitated, not sure what to say, as he looked at his fellow classmates who had mixed reactions on their faces still, and from what was now happening, as he then turned back to look at Monaca. The green haired girl noticed his hesitance and decided to continue speaking.

"If you're wondering... you talking to people at Towa City is something that's not really good. So don't even try again as we made sure it can never happen again! It would be better if you came to Towa City instead to talk to people here!" Monaca said in a polite manner. Makoto looked confused upon hearing this.

"But… I thought any outsider coming to Towa City, meant … the special guests would be hurt?" Makoto questioned.

"Well the Warriors of Hope are now willing to make a special exception for you now, Mr. Makoto Naegi! One of the special people, who helped ruined Big Sis Junko's plan at Hope's Peak Academy!" Monaca said so casually and with a creepy smile, as everyone's eyes looked surprised from hearing Monaca, confirm that Junko was involved with this. "If you don't show up to Towa City within one week at most, at a certain place called Towa Shrines here, then we'll make sure to start hurting the special guests we have here! And only you Mr. Makoto Naegi and no one else!"

"Wait… what!?" Makoto said as was surprised by what he just heard. He also had many questions he had for the child on the other line but before he could say more, Monaca began to laugh in a creepy like manner.

"Well I look forward to meeting you in the future. Bye bye!" Monaca said, as the screen for the Future Foundation became blank. Monaca then smiled feeling satisfied from what just happened. "Now it's time to see Kotoko, Nagisa, Mr. Servant and maybe… our special advisor. Though the special advisor is always very chatty,"

We now go back to Class 78 as everyone looked at each other. Whatever good news they had heard from Mukuro and Komaru had been replaced by more feelings of uncertainty.

"So the kids are working under Junko after all, it seems," Celeste commented, from what she just heard.

"That is pretty messed up of her to have kids involved under all of this craziness," Leon commented.

"I don't understand why they would involve themselves with her?" Sayaka added concerned.

"This sounds like a trap that child and the others with her are preparing," Byakuya stated. "I wouldn't be surprised at all if they have something prepared in regards to this,"

"Man, what a dirty lame trick those brats are trying to pull!" Toko whined, though she did whisper the following to herself. "Good to hear that Mukuro rescued Kameko earlier though,"

"But she said she harm the special guests she had in Towa City if Makoto didn't come though," Sakura pointed out, having a frustrated expression on her face.

"This is a really bad situation," Asahina stated, feeling uncomfortable.

"Well… Makoto is really lucky so maybe…" Hiro said with uncertainty while others looked at him with mixed expressions.

"Hiro!" Taka scolded out while Hiro felt bad from hearing that and from what he himself just said.

"I mean… Hiro isn't wrong. Makoto is the Ultimate Lucky student so…" Hifumi added while the others gave him mixed reactions as well.

"Shut it numbers!" Mondo said while Hifumi just sighed as his first name did technically mean one, two, and three in Japanese.

"I feel concerned for Makoto going to somewhere like Towa City. It's probably really dangerous," Chihiro said, worrying about the current situation.

"It's alright everyone. I'm going to go," Makoto said. Everyone looked at him, both surprised and concerned, as the brown-haired boy looked determined. "I'm not going to risk any of our loved ones becoming hurt,"

"Are you sure Makoto?" Kyoko asked, concerned for her classmate's well-being. "I'm concerned about our loved ones as well, but Mukuro said she rescued half of them already. Maybe she can rescue the remaining half before they can do anything to them,"

"I… I know but I can't risk that," Makoto said. "I want to make sure all our loved ones are safe,"

"At least think about it. That child said within a week," Kyoko suggested, though she personally felt mixed about the situation as well, as she and the others didn't want Makoto to go, as they were concerned for his safety as well, but at the same time they didn't want to risk any of their loved ones to be hurt as well. "Take some time to think about it Makoto. I think we can all give him that at the very least,"

Everyone nodded to what Kyoko just said. Makoto just sighed as he wasn't sure what to do. He was fairly confident that Byakuya was right, about this being a trap for him in some way. But at the same time he didn't want their loved ones to be hurt. Makoto placed both his hands over his face and sighed more, trying to wonder what he should do.

* * *

We're now back to seeing Komaru and Mukuro back in Towa Tower. The two had mixed expressions on their faces as Komaru was one of panic and shock, and Mukuro's was one of frustration and a bit of surprise.

"Makoto!? Please respond! I repeat, please respond Makoto!" Mukuro yelled out, as she didn't want to lose communications with him.

"Makoto!? Hey! What happened! Is the communications device out of batteries!?" Komaru screamed out of concern, as she already missed seeing and hearing her brother. She finally noticed outside that it was now raining, as the dark clouds were pouring rain harder compared to before. "Is it because of the weather outside now with the rain!?"

The two stared at the communications device, hoping it would somehow turn back on. After a minute or two, Mukuro just ended up sighing.

"No. It's not because of batteries or the weather I'm pretty sure. It's most likely because of the remaining Warriors of Hope… perhaps they found out about this signal," Mukuro said feeling frustrated as she already missed speaking with Makoto and seeing him. "If they found our signal, they must have made an effort to block it, like they did for the whole city in general,"

"Then… what should be our next move?" Komaru asked, with a faint voice, feeling bad as well.

"Return back to the Resistance Base and rest for the remainder of today. Tomorrow we'll see what we can do next for finding the remaining hostages," Mukuro answered back. Both of them walked back to the elevator in silence, as the only sounds were their footsteps, and Kameko still scurrying about in the stinkbug's insect cage, as Komaru now carried the insect's cage. They rode it down in silence, as tension began to grow between the two, due to communication issues that the two had when it came to talking about certain things.

Once the elevator reached back to the ground floor, the elevator door opened, and they were greeted by an odd sight. It was a Monokuma Kid that was waiting beside a present box that was already opened up.

"What do you want?" Mukuro said annoyed, as she and Komaru stepped out of the elevator and walked to the Monokuma Kid. The Monokuma Kid merely pointed to the present box before running away from the two, exiting the building. Both cautiously approached the present box and saw that there was another SD card. This one had the Japanese characters for the word paralyze, in yellow marker on the back.

"It's another SD card for the Hacking Gun," Komaru said curiously, as she picked it up and inserted it into her Megaphone Hacking Gun. Komaru had a sigh of relief come out, happy that she got another one of the hacking bullets back. "Now those Monokumas better watch out even more, unless they want to get shocked!"

"The children still giving you back functions for the Hacking Gun is still pretty suspect," Mukuro stated as she thought about what had just occurred.

"Yeah. But I can't complain. I only need two more SD cards, and the Hacking Gun will fully be back to normal," Komaru said with a grin.

"I suppose. Still… I guess it's something worth noting," Mukuro said as she took out her notepad and jotted down that Komaru had recovered another one of the hacking bullets for the Megaphone Hacking Gun back and what it was. She then placed it away, and the black-haired soldier began to walk away, heading towards the entrance so she could leave Towa Tower, but Komaru remained in place. Mukuro noticed that the younger teenager girl still stood, as she didn't hear any footsteps from her. "What? Why are you just standing there still?"

"Before we go Mukuro… do you… do you have anything else you want to tell me… before we go on?" Komaru asked, her voice a bit strained. Mukuro looked towards Komaru, as the younger girl had a skeptical face. "You seem to have a lot of things you don't want to talk about with me,"

"None of your business," Mukuro said as she turned away from Komaru, trying to control her emotions and began walking away now. Komaru stood for a bit, before reluctantly walking after Mukuro. The two now stood outside at the front entrance of Towa Tower, both glad to be free from that place, though it continued to rain as droplets fell on them, and it even started to thunder now. Both stayed quiet, as both looked at each other, both feeling uneasy for a bit. Mukuro then decided to speak up. "Don't question me on things that are unnecessary Komaru,"

"Asking about Junko wasn't unnecessary considering Jataro brought her up," Komaru said. "This Junko person… she's the one causing all this craziness and despair! She is relevant!"

"And how's bringing her up, going to resolve the situation?" Mukuro asked, feeling a bit more annoyed then before. "It isn't, at least so far,"

"It wouldn't hurt for me to know either Mukuro!" Komaru shouted back, as both girls formed aggressive expressions on their faces towards each other. Thunder roared from outside more, as the two felt aggression towards each other start to build up. "I deserve the right to know, just like anyone else who knows about her!"

"You're upset just because I didn't tell you about Junko at the top of Towa Tower. Stop it," Mukuro said back, as she continued to lose more patience from what was happening, and she gritted her teeth more.

"It's not just all about her! In general, since we've met, you've been hesitant to tell me a lot of things!" Komaru said feeling frustrated. "Like why me and all the other hostages were even kidnapped to begin with! That's something I would like to know!"

"Judging by the way you're acting right now, I think telling you would have made things worse," Mukuro commented back, with a glare. "Seriously, you are arguably more childish then actual kids Komaru,"

"That's only because you choose to hide it from me like this! Omitting information like this is… basically lying! You wouldn't even tell me if you knew my brother!" Komaru shouted, as she began to grit her own teeth. "It's a fact you chose not to ever answer me, whenever I brought it up, wondering about it!"

"I'm sure you tell everyone, every single thing you know!" Mukuro shouted, starting to lose her own composure. "What do you want out of me Komaru!?"

"I want you to start being more open to me and not hide things you shouldn't!" Komaru shouted out, feeling now hurt. "I thought we could trust each other… like friends Mukuro! Am I… not your friend?"

"Friends? Listen, I'm saving you and the other hostages but that doesn't make us friends," Mukuro answered back bluntly. Komaru felt hurt upon hearing this from the soldier. "I'm here to save you and everyone else I intend to save, and that's it. Nothing more, nothing less,"

Komaru's facial expression became really hurt, as tears came out of her eyes, even if they were indistinguishable from the rain that was falling on them both.

"I really though we were friends... and I really thought I could trust you," Komaru managed to speak out, as her voice sounded hurt from the emotional pain she felt. Komaru then stayed silent for a bit taking this, as rain continued to fall. Thunder continued to roar as both girls looked at each other, as both girls were absolutely soaked by this point. Komaru's face eventually turned blank as she slowly began to walk away from both Mukuro and Towa Tower, as she held Kameko's cage.

"Where are you going?" Mukuro questioned.

"I'm going back to the Resistance Base and taking Kameko with me, so she can be safe back there, without you. I'm going to find Shirokuma," Komaru stated seriously. "At least I can trust him,"

"You can't trust Shirokuma," Mukuro stated out loud. "Just because he does nice and good things, doesn't mean he's necessarily a good person,"

"Funny… I can say the same about you now," Komaru said coldly, as she continued to walk away, while Mukuro balled her right fist. "At least Shirokuma hasn't done anything to me to make me think that of him yet. Compared to a person who defends the person who ruined the world!"

"Excuse me?" Mukuro said, feeling a bit confused and her emotions growing more hostile towards Komaru. "I'm defending the person who ruined the world? What?"

"Yes! That person being Junko! Because you couldn't trust me enough to tell me just before! It's like… you didn't want to talk about her for some reason, till my brother had to get involved, despite her ruining the world being the truth! Were you close with her or something? Was this Junko person your best friend at Hope's Peak Academy while you were attending it?" Komaru yelled out in anger as Mukuro began to ball her left fist. "I mean… judging by how you act, I can see why you don't have a lot of friends Mukuro, so for the person who did all this despair related madness to like you, says a lot! Or maybe the way you act is why you don't have any friends!"

"I am warning you Komaru… you are treading on extremely thin ice right now." Mukuro said, in an extremely serious tone, as she was glaring harshly at the younger girl, as while she did feel somewhat mixed on Junko in general as of late, she still cared for her despair obsessed sister greatly. Both of her fists were now balled, as she was nearly at her boiling point. "Like I said before… it's none of your business! Also know that you are still not my friend!"

Komaru remained silent, as lightning now flashed in the sky along with roaring thunder. Both her and Mukuro stared and glared at each other for a while, looking at each other with serious expressions as the bad weather continued. Soon the rain began to stop pouring, as the thunder muted, and no more lightning strikes occurred. Both reluctantly walked off in silence, as both had a feeling they wouldn't be rid of each other, back to the Resistance Base all while Kameko continued to scurry around in its insect cage. But the bond both teenager girls had with each other, whatever was there, had definitely weakened compared to before.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **And that was the end of that chapter. Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. Hifumi in Japanese literally means "One, two, three." Hifumi Yamada's first name does indeed mean one, two, and three, as what Mondo referenced by saying numbers in this chapter.**

 **2\. Komaru had a conflict with Toko in the original Danganronpa Another Episode, whereas in this version she conflicts with Mukuro. The reasons for the conflicts are different as Toko in the original Another Episode at this point in the game, is essentially willing to give up Komaru to save Byakuya if it came down to it, whereas Mukuro's lack of trust and unwillingness to inform Komaru of various significant things, led to the breakdown here.**

 **3\. Monaca did not contact Future Foundation in the original game to ask for Makoto to come to Towa City. That is something purely in this version of events.**

 **4\. The paralyze bullet was found in a different location in the original game, whereas it was given to Komaru and Mukuro at the base of Towa Tower in this take of DRAE. Also how Komaru & Mukuro got down from Towa Tower also differs (less hassle this time) from how Komaru & Toko did, and the weather outside was not raining in the original.**

 **Well that's it for this chapter. As always, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter, and the story so far in general. Till next time!  
**


	14. A Delayed Plan & Shaky Bonds

**We are finally at Chapter 14! As usual, I'm going to address the previous reviews before moving onto this chapter.**

 **doomqwer, thank you for that comment, and I appreciate that. Yeah things kind of got tense for those two, since the end of the last chapter, didn't it?**

 **From the Guest, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. That was indeed the idea I had going, as mentioned before, that I wanted to see the events of Danganronpa IF continued, and how it would effect the next chain of developments that happen in the main canon timeline.**

 **I hope everyone is still enjoying the story and I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter as well. Enjoy!**

* * *

We reconvene now in a familiar room in a certain location, as we see Monaca "grieving," as she held her hands to cover her face, and Kotoko right beside her trying to console her. They had just heard from the Monokuma Kids working under them that Jataro had apparently now "died," as well. It was the same throne room where they had Masaru's funeral in the past.

"Jataro's not coming back huh? He's gone like Masaru too from what I heard from the recent news from the Monokuma Kids," Kotoko said out loud, pondering about what just happened earlier. "Well it's not like I care. I hated him anyway,"

"Taro probably got himself killed… cut, ground down, crushed and stretched, squashed into paste, burned and eaten!" Monaca cried out as she referred to Jataro with that name. "Poor little Taro… even though I hated him,"

"Anyway, Monaca… why are we not holding a funeral this time?" Kotoko questioned. "Since we had one for Masaru in the past and all,"

"Oh… that. I got bored of that. Doesn't really matter, since we can't even fill the coffin anyway," Monaca answered back, as if she had no care in the world. Kotoko felt concerned and had sweat drip from her face, seeing how much Monaca just disregarded Jataro, even if she herself didn't like him that much.

"Well… if you got bored of it, I guess we really don't have to…" Kotoko said back, trying to not sound a bit nervous. Kotoko then something on her mind she wanted to ask, as she grew curious about something. "But ummm… do you really think Jataro really died Monaca?"

"Hmmm?" Monaca sounded back to Kotoko, as she looked at the other girl now, as Kotoko felt sweat continue down her face.

"I mean… if he did die, we should have found his body, right?" Kotoko questioned, still sounding a bit nervous. "I was just a teensy… bit curious. That's all,"

Monaca hearing this, made her wheelchair and herself face Kotkoko directly after hearing this. Monaca's facial expression turned into one of her own questioning as she looked even more directly at Kotoko.

"It sounds like you're saying Monaca is wrong," Monaca said, sounding doubtful.

"Huh!?" Kotoko said in a panic like manner, as her face tensed up even more. Monaca did not look pleased as she began to yell and flail her arms.

" **LIKE I SAID! YOU'RE TRYING TO SAY MONACA IS WRONG! YOU'RE QUESTIONING MONACA!** " Monaca angrily yelled out, as she continued to shake and her wheelchair shook as well.

"No, no, no! Not at all! There's no way Monaca would be wrong!" Kotoko replied in complete panic now, as Monaca was now upset at her, as she now continued to ramble due to her panic. "And speaking of wrong, aren't the people who put Worcester sauce on fried eggs just wrong! It's so obvious that fried eggs taste best when you drown it in maple syrup, right!?"

Monaca just continued her temper tantrum while Kotoko chattered her teeth from what she was seeing of Monaca before her.

"Look, I was just a little curious that's all! My head's just a little out of place right now is all… I'm just a teensy bit curious! Like about why mailboxes are always white, or how enemies become friends right after a fight!" Kotoko rambled nervously.

"You… don't have to worry about things like that." Monaca said seriously, as she now felt calmer then before, but still looked at Kotoko seriously.

"I'm sorry! It's not like I have bad feelings towards you or anything!" Kotoko said nervously, as she then went on her knees in front of Monaca and was now begging in front of her. "So please don't hate me! Keep loving me forever and ever!"

Monaca hearing this from Kotoko, began to calm down and soon even formed a smile, as she looked pleased now.

"Yep, yep. I already know that. It's not something to apologize over. I know you're a girl that's very sweet and very… gentle," Monaca said gently, as Kotoko then looked at Monaca with a confused expression.

"Huh? Gen…tle?" Kotoko said as her face then went blank. Her mind began to replay old memories that had to deal with her past as she began to remember voices from it.

"Kotoko, you were so cute, as always!" an adult said to her, as she found herself shivering nervously before this adult in the past. "The director, the producer, the sponsor, everybody was super happy! Now… there's another business you have to attend to, and your mom is going to come with you, okay? It's going to be alright… Kotoko is just so sweet… everyone will be gentle with you… very gentle,"

Back to the present as Kotoko's face began to freak out, as she looked as if she had seen a ghost and began to sob loudly.

"No! I don't want… gentle!" Kotoko sobbed out, as she began to cry now. "I'll do anything please… just not that! I'll do my best with singing and acting! So please! Anything but gentle!"

"Oh, ooopsies! I totally forgot that gentle is a bad word for Kotoko!" Monaca said with fake politeness. "To make you end up like this… it's as I've always known, the Demons are the worst."

Monaca then wheeled her wheelchair right before Kotoko, and then began to hit her face repeatedly with her right fist, while Kotoko continued to cry as the pink haired girl was too distraught by her memories from her past.

"How can they be so blind? Blind to their foolishness, ugliness, obnoxiousness, bad smell, boringness… to their own damnation. Even blind to the fact that they scarred Kotoko like this," Monaca said as she kept hitting Kotoko while saying all of this. She then hugged Kotoko, and patted the other girl's back, as the pink haired girl soon stopped crying and only sobbed. "But don't worry. Monaca won't be gentle,"

After some deep breathing, Kotoko finally calmed down, as she looked back at Monaca's face with an expression that looked all over the place.

"Demons… are filthy, smelly, ugly chunks of meat, and are more worthless than dirt, and disgusting filthy demons, deserve a disgusting filthy death!" Kotoko said out loud, sounding angry, as her face then turned angry as she now began to shout. "They should all choke on their own poop and suffocate! They should just hold it in, and hold it, and hold it, until their intestines explode!"

"Geez Kotoko… that's so gross. That sounds like something Jataro would say," Monaca said back, with a bit of a revolted expression. However, a familiar voice then sounded out, interrupting the two.

"Ummm… what are you two doing?" Nagisa asked, with a confused expression, seeing Monaca hugging Kotoko, in the middle of the room. His face also had sweat drip down, seeing how close Kotoko was with Monaca, being hugged in that manner.

"Oh my, oh my! Are you perhaps… jealous?" Kotoko taunted, standing up and away from Monaca as she was now feeling better and back to her usual self. Nagisa's face turned really pink, as he walked in front of the two, sweat dripping from his own face, as he tried to deny what Kotoko just said.

"What are you talking about? What do I have to be jealous of?" Nagisa said, trying to keep his cool but doing a bad job at it.

"It's not like I'm jealous of you… is that what you're trying to say?" Kotoko continued to taunt with a smirk. This caused Nagisa to look more annoyed.

"Like I said, it's… it's not that at all!" Nagisa answered back, as he felt himself getting riled up.

"Hmmm? What do you mean by jealous exactly?" Monaca asked out loud, which just caused Kotoko to squeal from what she just heard.

"Kyaaa! Monaca you're just so innocent! I could just put whipped cream on you and eat you up!" Kotoko said, while Nagisa had a blank expression form on his face, not sure what to think or feel from what Kotoko just said.

"I don't get it at all!" Monaca said. "Anyway, more importantly… Nagisa you mentioned there was work to be done right? Did something happen?"

"I have a plan prepared," Nagisa said, as he had a vicious grin appear on his face. "A plan to take out the Resistance,"

"Really Nagisa?" Kotoko said, sounding intrigued. "You have a plan to take them out?"

"Yes. I have recently formed a plan. A plan that will take out the remaining demons that form the Resistance. As long as the Resistance continues to exist, our paradise cannot be completed," Nagisa continued to explain.

"Amazing Nagisa! That sounds amazing!" Monaca praised, as she wheeled herself right besides the blue haired boy, and gave him a hug, which caused the boy to blush intensely, and Kotoko to have a mischievous expression appear on her face. "Well done!"

"Hey Monaca! Hey!?" Nagisa said surprised with a blushing face that looked like as if his face suddenly got splashed with pink paint. Monaca just looked at him with a curious face, while he kept blushing, and Kotoko kept smirking at the sight.

"Hmmm? What's wrong?" Monaca asked to Nagisa, as she stopped hugging the boy who tried to calm himself down, from what just happened.

"It's nothing! You're just… a little close to me… and all," Nagisa replied back, trying to not sound nervous, as he had sweat on his face now.

"Awww! You're such a shy boy Nagisa. Meow!" Monaca said in a cheerful tone as she begin to spin herself in a circle, using her wheelchair and feeling happy. "With this plan of yours… if it works, we can finally build the children's paradise! If that happens, the Warriors of Hope will finally level up to Saviors! With that said, since your our new leader, I will continue to have high expectations of you!"

"Of… of course. High expectations for me!" Nagisa said, as he continued to try to calm down from before.

"Yep, yep, yep! Did you hear that Mr. Advisor? Our children's paradise will finally be ready in the future soon!" Monaca said gleefully, while both Nagisa and Kotoko's face felt reluctance pop into them, hearing Monaca address their advisor that was sent by Big Sis Junko, to assist them. Monaca figured she let their advisor discuss this current development with them as well. "Hey… you're listening, right Kurokuma? Oh, that's right… I'll let you talk now,"

The three faced the throne like chair that was in the room now, as a black Monokuma was seated there the whole time, staying silent. He was half black on his left side of his body, and half dark gray on his right side of his body. He wore a dark gray fedora hat which had a white and red feather on it, a golden chain with a golden padlock around his neck and a golden star, had golden teeth, a black tie, a black heart shaped eye patch over his right normal eye, only leaving his left red eye exposed, and finally a brown cigar on his mouth. He was Kurokuma, and he was the advisor to the Warrior of Hope, given to them from Junko.

"I can finally talk again!" Kurokuma shouted out in a stereotypical gangster like accent, as the black bear jumped up and down in glee. Nagisa and Kotoko felt pained expressions coming onto their faces, while Monaca frowned, wondering if she should have let the robot bear speak again. The bear began to ramble insanely long and fast, as words and sounds emitted from him, as he was quite the chatterbox. "Phew that was tough! I shall not be silenced! Nobody's going to close my yap, especially when I got stuff I want to say! Especially since I'm so good at talking! Hey did you know that Spider-Man is officially spelled with the hyphen in it, and you got to include the hyphen as part of his name officially? I didn't know till I searched it up recently! Anyway, what the hell are we all talking about? Are we going to turn adults into sausages to get grinded up and then get sold into supermarkets! I definitely want to see that! Bahahahaha!"

Kurokuma then continued to ramble, as Monaca, Nagisa, and Kotoko all looked at each other and just sighed. Monaca wanted to let the bear in on whatever Nagisa's plan was, but she remembered why she told their advisor to not talk before, as the bear continued to ramble on and on, talking about the most random things.

* * *

We see both Komaru and Mukuro walking in the area of Towa Riverside. While it stopped raining, lots of puddles now formed in the area, and the clouds were still gray and cloudy. Both remained silent to each other, as the two continued to walk down. Both felt conflicted over the silence, but at the same time, did not want to talk to the other. Kameko continued to scurry about in its insect cage, oblivious to the hostility both girls now had for each other.

The silence was soon interrupted as both girls saw multiple Monokumas ahead, as the Monokumas were stationary, looking ahead of them, and thankfully not looking behind, where they see both girls. Mukuro noticed they were all standing in a large puddle of water, formed from the rainfall earlier that day. She remembered that Komaru had just gotten the paralyze SD card back for her Megaphone Hacking Gun. Mukuro sighed and decided to stop being silent, as she decided to say something.

"Komaru. Those Monokumas are standing in the water. With your paralyze bullet-" but before Mukuro could finish speaking, Komaru just took out her Megaphone Hacking Gun, had it ready to use paralyze bullets. Komaru fired one of the yellow electromagnetic bullets, hitting one of the Monokumas standing on the large puddle from afar. The Monokuma that was hit, soon began to go nuts with electricity, as well as the other Monokumas also standing on the wet puddle, as they all began to short circuit like crazy. Soon they all blew up into metal scrap, as the electricity was too much for them.

Komaru just stayed silent, as she walked forward, not answering Mukuro back, while the soldier girl just rolled her eyes, but continued to walk after the other girl. Komaru felt conflicted as she continued to walk, as a part of her wanted to thank Mukuro for the advice, but she still didn't really want to talk to her, if possible. The two continued onwards as they were heading back to the Resistance Base. The two fought and destroyed any Monokumas on the way in silence, still not choosing not to speak to each other.

After some time had passed, the two had finally made it back to the Resistance Base. They had noticed that many of the adults that were around, were still as apathetic and all over the place in general and as usual, not that they could blame them. Greeting them upon seeing them return, was Yuta who was happy to see the two girls.

"Hey! I'm glad to see you're both back here safe!" Yuta said with a smile. He then noticed that Komaru was carrying an insect cage that had a stinkbug in it. "Huh? What's the deal with the stinkbug?"

"It's important." Mukuro said, while Yuta looked at Mukuro confused, from hearing this.

"What? How's it important?" Yuta asked.

"I would hope Mukuro answers you about how it's important. Since she has all the information about so many things, unlike us," Komaru stated bluntly and in a frustrated manner with the soldier girl looking annoyed. She walked up to Mukuro and gave the insect's cage that Kameko was in, back to her. "I'm going to head back to my room and call it a day. See you,"

"Wait… what? What's wrong Komaru?" Yuta asked, as Komaru was about to walk off, but stopped hearing that from him. "And the thing is, I need to tell you two something,"

"What is it?" Mukuro asked before Komaru could say or do anything else, curious to hear what Yuta had to say to them "What do you have to tell me and Komaru?"

"Ms. Hagakure said she needed to speak to you two about something." Yuta said to both girls. "I don't know what she has to speak to you two about, but she said it was important,"

"I see… thanks Yuta for the info," Komaru said, with a bit more warmth, feeling better. "I guess, we'll both see her after we're done here,"

"No problem Komaru," Yuta said with a grin. Mukuro then walked up to the teenager boy, and handed him Kameko's cage, with the stinkbug. "Huh? Why are you giving this cage to me?"

"I need you to do something for me. I know in the past you said you wanted to help out, isn't that right Yuta?" Mukuro asked. Yuta nodded back to the soldier girl, though he was still unsure where this was going exactly. "I need you to take care of this stinkbug."

"You want me… to take care of the stinkbug?" Yuta asked, looking confused now. "You still haven't told me how it's important though."

Komaru looked towards Mukuro's face, wondering if Mukuro would do it or not, while Mukuro looked annoyed at the younger teenager, before answering Yuta back.

"The stinkbug belongs to someone I know. Komaru and I found it being held by one of the Warriors of Hope at Towa Tower. It was taken hostage by them, to use as leverage," Mukuro said, while Komaru looked a bit surprised that Mukuro was being more open now, compared to before. "I know this sounds weird and all, but I need you to take care of it, since Haiji will probably keep sending me, Komaru, Yukimura, and Kanon out in the future in Towa City, and I need someone here, I both trust and I believe can take care of this stinkbug well."

"Ah huh… that's interesting," Yuta said, surprised that the children would do that. He then smiled and smirked. "Well sure! I can take care of this stinkbug! Does it have a name?"

"Its name is Kameko," Mukuro answered. "Can you do this favor for me?"

"Of course! Anyway I can help out," Yuta said with confidence.

"I'm trusting you Yuta, so please take care of it well, and don't let anything happen to Kameko," Mukuro stated as she walked to the boy teenager and handed the insect cage with Kameko inside it, towards him.

"I will. You can count on me," Yuta said with a nod, as he then carefully took the insect cage from the soldier girl. "By the way, how did the whole Towa Tower thing go with you two? I know Yukimura and Kanon brought back a hostage from it,

"It went alright. It proved to be a pretty educational experience, considering I started learning things I should have known about before," Komaru said a bit coldly, while Mukuro glared at her. Yuta now sensing that the two weren't in the best of moods, for some reasons remained silent, as Komaru continued to talk. "We managed to contact Future Foundation, which is the organization that Mukuro is part of, but some issues came up,"

"Basically, I can't get you and the others out of here, till the remaining people I intend to save are found and secured, because if they come here now, the kids causing all this madness, will go more out of their way to harm the remaining people I intend to save and cause more trouble in general," Mukuro added.

Yuta just nodded, understanding what they just told them. He bid the two girls bye for now, as he held Kameko's cage, and headed for his room in the Resistance Base. Before Mukuro and Komaru could walk further and meet with Hiroko, they heard another familiar voice call out to them.

"Hey! You two!" said the familiar warm voice of Shirokuma, as the robot bear walked up to the both of them. He then immediately hugged Komaru, while Mukuro just glared at the bear, still feeling Shirokuma wasn't what it fully seemed. "Yay! You two made it back safely! I want to hear the whole story of how it went at Towa Tower!"

Mukuro just continued to glare at Shirokuma, as she did not want to answer the bear, while Komaru fell quiet, as she was still not at her emotional best, as she had a frown on her face. Shirokuma noticed this as, he decided to speak more.

"Are you two alright? I'm guessing you two must be tired, after everything that happened over there," Shirokuma said. "I heard some of it from Yukimura and Kanon, how you two and them fought a lot of Monokumas today. Also thank you all for finding another hostage with Mr. Fujisaki! He's a nice person too!"

"Well we were on our way to seeing Ms. Hagakure to speak to her about something, before we call it a day," Komaru said quietly back. "Hey Shirokuma… how are all the adults holding up?"

"They seem fairly… apathetic," Mukuro added, as both girls and Shirokuma looked at the adults around, in the area.

"I bet they're all just shy! It's not everyday you see two beautiful high school girls, like you two!" Shirokuma complimented, as Mukuro rolled her eyes at what she heard, while Komaru had a small smile form from such a thought. Shirokuma then turned to face the adults and shouted the following to them. "Hey everyone! Aren't you glad these young girls came back to us?"

Silence was the only response as the adults, either weren't listening to Shirokuma to begin with, or were too tired and distraught with what has been happening lately to answer back.

"See? Totally welcoming!" Shirokuma said warmly, seemingly oblivious to the fact they said nothing back. Komaru blinked her eyes, not sure what to say, while Mukuro looked annoyed.

"What are you talking about? No one said anything back when you just said that," Mukuro stated back, wondering if Shirokuma was messing with them, or if he was that unaware.

"Hey Shirokuma... I'm going to go rest after Mukuro and I see Ms. Hagakure," Komaru said quietly, still feeling down from what happened earlier. "It was nice seeing you,"

"Komaru… why are you so down? I heard from Haiji you and Mukuro tried to contact Future Foundation. Did it not work?" Shirokuma asked concerned.

"No, the connection worked fine. It's just… the connection got cut off from the Warriors of Hope and some other… unexpected developments happened," Komaru said, feeling mixed now, as she felt awkward about how she and Mukuro felt towards each other from before.

"I see… so that's why you're so down," Shirokuma said, looking sad himself. "I'm sorry. Do you want me to pat your head?"

"Why? So, you can then stab her with your claws, without her expecting it?" Mukuro commented, annoyed and still suspicious of Shirokuma.

"No! Of course not! I would never do anything like that!" Shirokuma said. "I don't do stuff like that!"

"I know. It's okay Shirokuma. You're one of the few people I can still trust anymore," Komaru said, while Mukuro just sighed and looked away, feeling annoyed again. "Well we should get going. We really need to see Ms. Hagakure. It was good to see you Shirokuma,"

"Same! See you two in the future! Be well," Shirokuma said in a jovial manner as the bear was smiling, as he walked off from them. Mukuro and Komaru looked at each other, with Mukuro looking annoyed while Komaru just sighed. The two walked off, looking for Hiroko before finding her with an unlit cigarette in her mouth, just like their previous encounter, standing in the same general location she was at the Resistance Base, from where they met here from before. Hiroko seeing the two approached her, smiled upon seeing the girls again.

"Yo, Koko and Muku. How are you two?" Hiroko said in a calm but playful mode. Komaru just frowned, while Mukuro just sighed and looked frustrated back. "Huh? You two have food poisoning earlier today, or something?"

"We're… not in the best mood," Komaru answered back.

"Sorry to hear that. Something happen?" Hiroko asked both concerned and a bit curious. "I heard you both went outside earlier. Well I figured you two would."

"You figured we would?" Komaru asked, curiously, while Mukuro wondered why Hiroko would say that as well. "What do you mean?"

"How should I put it… there's something about you two with some others here, that's different from everyone else," Hiroko explained. "How can I say it… the air around you two and some of the others are pretty different. Always trying to face forward and all, while around here, most of the other people feel the air is just getting heavier and they're just feeling stressed out in general. I mean… stuck in a dark and moldy place, who wouldn't be?"

Mukuro and Komaru looked at each other, unsure what to say back to Hiroko regarding that, as Komaru merely shrugged, while Mukuro then decided to ask Hiroko a question.

"Did you wish to speak with us? Yuta said you had something important you wanted to talk to us about," Mukuro asked.

"That's right. Since you two went outside and have been going outside a lot in general… I have a favor to ask of you two," Hiroko said, catching both teenage girls attentions. "You see, I had some men sneak me more cigarettes today from outside, and one of them found something I think you two might be interested in,"

"What did they find?" Mukuro asked, curious of what this favor was exactly.

"A card with information on someone the kids are after," Hiroko said, as she took out a card from her pants pocket and showed it to both Mukuro and Komaru. Both their eyes lit up from surprise, seeing that Hiroko had another hit list card. Mukuro recognized it as another one of the hostages connected to her classmates.

"Ms. Hagakure, can you hand me that, so I can get a closer look?" Komaru asked, as she was curious to see the hit list demon card.

"Sure," Hiroko said calmly, as she handed the card to Komaru. Both teenager girls got a closer look at the card. It depicted a picture of a girl with the demon name being "Madafujirus," and with her real name as Fujiko Yamada. Mukuro recalled that this hostage was a relative to Hifumi. She also noted that it listed Fujiko's location as the Towa Bookstore. Komaru cleared her throat before reading the description on the card.

"A manga artist demon who made Tara Spa! Before you kill it, make it write lots of manga and put you in a comic book! And if it complains, choke it to make it do what you want! It likes to draw naked pictures of boy Demons, so give it plenty of bodies to draw," Komaru read out loud. Komaru's own eyes then widened in realization from what she just read. "Oh my god! She's the author of Tara Spa!"

"What is that?" Mukuro reluctantly asked, as she still didn't really want to talk to Komaru but was still curious.

"It says she's a manga artist, so it must be the title of a manga, I'm guessing right?" Hiroko, curious herself.

"Not just any manga! A manga masterpiece! The drawings of food are so well done, it's said that reading it will make you start to drool!" Komaru admired happily, while Mukuro wondered, if the drawings were really that good.

"Is that so?" Hiroko said, as she had the odd feeling she saw her son Hiro read this manga in the past.

"So, Teacher's Second Fry was just a penname for her... what a shocking scoop!" Komaru enthused on. "This is big news! Huge news! I hope I can get an autograph from her!"

"We should be focused on saving her before anything else," Mukuro said with a sigh. The soldier girl then took out the hit list card from her black drawstring backpack from her back, that herself and Komaru found at Towa Tower, and showed it to Hiroko. "Komaru and I found this at Towa Tower. It's similar to the card the men sneaking you your cigarettes found,"

Mukuro handed the hit list card of Ayaka Haneyama to Hiroko, as the adult women looked it over, as she went over the information on it.

"You're right. It's just like the card my cigarette guys found," Hiroko stated out loud. "Ah… I remember this person. I think I saw her on TV before with the idol group. The idol group with that famous idol Sayaka,"

"Are you a Sayaker as well Ms. Hagakure?" Komaru asked, while Mukuro felt her eyes rolling again, with this being brought up.

"Sayaker? What's that?" Hiroko asked, curious to hear what that meant.

"It's what all of us fans of Sayaka call ourselves!" Komaru cheered. "She has at least over one hundred million of us!"

"So... what kind of things do these "Sayakers" do, anyway?" Hiroko asked.

"Well, nothing specific... We're just people who like Sayaka and cheer for her. In my case, I buy CDs and merch with my monthly allowance," Komaru gushed out while Mukuro continued to roll her eyes and decided to change the subject.

"Well thank you for the other hit list card Ms. Hagakure. The one for Fujiko. But can I ask, why did you trust us, to give it to us?" Mukuro asked.

"I see you two are always bringing back people which is pretty good. You brought Yuta with you two, when you first arrived here. Then you two brought back Kanon with you yesterday. Then you got Yukimura and Kanon bringing back someone named Taichi today. By the way, the guy in charge here, already got that guy a place to rest, so he's resting right now, in case you're wondering," Hiroko explained. "Both Yukimura and Kanon told me, you two told them to bring him back earlier. So, I figured, if anyone can find and bring back more people to here, it be you two."

"Thank you, Ms. Hagakure. That really means a lot," Komaru said, appreciative that she was being trusted. "I'm glad you appreciate me, unlike some people I know,"

Mukuro inwardly growled, trying not to appear or sound mad, while Hiroko just shrugged at the comment she heard.

"Thanks. Anyway, I already talked to the guy in charge, and I recommend at least one of you check in with him before calling it a day. See you girls later," Hiroko said as she walked away, heading to her own quarters in the base. Soon both Komaru and Mukuro found themselves alone, aside from any adults, apathetically around the area still. Both looked at each other with awkward expressions, trying not to speak to each other, but soon found themselves just sighing.

"I'm going to head back to our room… shower and change clothes… and head to bed. You can go see Haiji if you want," Komaru said back quietly to Mukuro. The younger teenager then began to walk away while Mukuro just walked towards the building that had the large meeting room, still not wanting to talk to Komaru if possible. Once she entered, she saw Haiji was there, siting on a chair and looking over a clipboard with some written notes on them. Haiji noticing the soldier girl's presence, spoke to her.

"How did it go, at Towa Tower? I saw Kanon and Yukimura brought back another survivor from there," Haiji said, curious. "Did you manage to make communications with anyone outside of Towa City?"

"I managed to make contact with Future Foundation briefly," Mukuro responded, while Haiji had a mixed expression form on his face, due to hearing the name of that organization. "Before it got cut off, basically they can't risk sending any aid or support at the moment,"

"Why can't they?" Haiji asked, feeling a bit frustrated, and tense. "I thought they were supposed to be helping people?"

"They can't because the children who are behind the chaos here, have hostages and have warned Future Foundation that they can't get involved," Mukuro stated. "What I intend to do, is save the remaining hostages I came to Towa City for. Once I save them all, I'll try to contact them again in some other way since the children cut off our signal."

"I see… well I suppose you better get to saving those remaining hostages as soon as possible," Haiji said. "Out of curiosity, those hostages… they wouldn't happen to be people on those hit list cards? A woman from earlier today came to see me, regarding that, and wanted to talk to me about letting you and Komaru go after them,"

"They are. I intend to save them. As of right now, there are two more hostages I know the locations of. I'm going to search for them tomorrow," Mukuro said.

"Bring Komaru with you. You two seem to be a good team for this kind of stuff," Haiji said. Mukuro looked annoyed at Haiji from hearing this, and Haiji noticing this, added the following. "Like I've said in the past towards you, if you plan to stay here, you follow my rules."

"Hmph." was all Mukuro sounded out, as she left the meeting room, and headed towards where she and Komaru was staying at, for the Resistance Base. "Once I save all the hostages connected to my classmates and get them all out of Towa City… I'm going to expose Towa Group and how they're connected to Junko. One thing at a time,"

Mukuro soon found herself at the quarters where her and Komaru was staying at. She saw Komaru was already dressed in her pajamas and found that the girl was sitting, in the bed the two shared. Komaru noticing Mukuro stayed quiet as she still didn't feel like talking to Mukuro, if she didn't have to, and the other girl felt similarly. Mukuro soon showered, changed her clothes into pajamas, and groomed herself. She then went back to the bed and saw Komaru already was sleeping. She reluctantly sat and went to sleep herself. Both girls for the rest of that night opted to not talk to each other, or even eat, as the mood was still thick with awkwardness and tension between the two, as they just chose to sleep, with uneasy feelings inside of them still towards each other and in general.

* * *

We are now checking back with the Warriors of Hope and Kurokuma, as the bear robot was still talking away. Nearby we see Monaca, Nagisa, and Kotoko was sleeping due to the bear's constant rambling and grew bored from hearing him talk. Monaca was slumped up against her wheelchair sleeping, while Kotoko and Nagisa were snoozing on the floor.

"And then Hendrix himself came to my live concert, three times! In my dreams anyway," Kurokuma boasted, despite the fact the three Warriors of Hope in the room were asleep to his rambling. He then smirked and said the following. "By the way, the word massacre is so damn awesome! It has a great ring to it, a beat to it, like the beatbox beating of my heart! M to the A to the motherfucking ssacre! Hahahaha! So yeah anyway, Hendrix was like-"

"Why hello! I apologize for being late everyone!" said the familiar voice of Nagito. Kurokuma stopped talking as he saw the white-haired teenager enter. He was holding a plastic see through bag of what appeared to be chestnuts inside it. Nagito now noticed that the three Warriors of Hope in the room, were all sleeping. "I can see you're captivating them with some tale of some kind,"

"Hey, hey, hey! Where the hell have you been!? You totally missed my hilarious dialogue!" Kurokuma whined.

"I was running an errand for our Miss Fighter. It sure was difficult finding sweet chestnuts," Nagito calmly explained. He walked over to Kotoko and carefully poked her face, causing the young girl to slowly wake up. He then carefully poked Nagisa and Monaca to wake them up as well.

"Huh? What happened?" Monaca said with a yawn, as she stretched her arms.

"Kurokuma's constant rambling put us to sleep," Nagisa said, sounding a bit irritated, but a bit sleepy as well.

"That seems to be the case evidently," Nagito said. He then showed the bag of chestnuts he had to Kotoko. "These are the sweet chestnuts you've asked for,"

Nagito handed the plastic bag full of chestnuts to Kotoko, as she eyed and inspected them. After a bit, she turned to face Nagito with a questioning expression.

"Are these chestnuts, properly peeled?" Kotoko asked. Nagito looked confused for a bit before answering back.

"I'm sorry? No, they aren't peeled. Why?" Nagito asked back.

"What are you, nuts!? This is downright nuts!? Kotoko now whined as she now had a pouty expression. "I asked for peeled nuts! Unpeeled nuts are like a completely different food!"

"Ah. As expected of the great Miss Actress, your orders are quite detailed," Nagito said with a sigh. Hearing this, caused Kotoko to have a serious expression form on her face, as she walked right in front of Nagito and looked like she was ready to murder him on the spot.

"You may be our servant, but keep bringing up ancient history like that, and I'll kill you," Kotoko said in a threatening tone, being completely serious.

"Sorry, sorry. I guess I'll peel the nuts for you. My mistake," Nagito said, without a care in the world as he was unphased by what he just heard.

"You peeling my chestnuts? When one of your hands is still messed up? Ewww, gross!" Kotoko said, feeling grossed out. "Let me see if that hand that got stung, is still swelled up and stuff,"

Nagito took off the glove over the hand that was stung before, and when it was off, everyone else in the room saw that it was nearly back to being a regular normal hand, and was an improvement compared to last time. It however still had some minor swelling and redness left.

"Nope! Still a gross hand! Since you're making me wait longer for the peeled chestnuts I want, it's time I punish you!" Kotoko said with mischievousness. She took out a remote that had various buttons on it. She hit one of the buttons, and soon many normal Monokumas wearing chef hats, headed into the room, pushing carts that had cherry and strawberry cakes with white cream on them. Kotoko began picking up the cakes and throwing them at Nagito. "Take this and this! Useless servants deserve to end up like this!"

"Hahahahaha! Good, good! Go for it!" Kurokuma said as he began to laugh wildly from what was happening to Nagito.

"This is noticeably troubling… I prefer salty things to sweet ones," Nagito said, as his whole being was being covered in cake and whipped cream. Nagisa just dismissed what he was seeing with a annoyed expression, not caring what was happening, and then he suddenly remembered something and began to speak out.

"Wait everyone. I just remembered," Nagisa said out loud. "So before I fell asleep due to Kurokuma's rambling, I devised a plan in regard to the Resistance and-"

"Nagisa. Monaca is going to go to bed right now," Monaca said with another added yawn. "I feel too tired after falling asleep earlier. We can talk about your plan tomorrow, okay?"

"But… but…" Nagisa said sounding a bit frustrated. Nagisa then ended up sighing and shrugging. "Well… very well Monaca. Perhaps it's for the best, seeing how Kotoko is preoccupied with covering our servant in sugary food. I'll discuss the plan I have with you and Kotoko tomorrow,"

With that said, Monaca and Nagisa left the room, while Kotoko remained to keep throwing cake at Nagito. Soon once all the cake brought to her was gone, she left herself feeling satisfied, done for the night as well. Nagito left deciding to clean himself up, and Kurokuma went back to being quiet, seeing now there was no audience at all for anyone to hear him talk. It seemed whatever plan Nagisa, had in mind, would have to be discussed in the future. A plan that would supposedly take out all the so called demons from the Resistance.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **How was that? Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. Kurokuma is another character that made his debut in Danganronpa Another Episode. His name Kuro means black, as he is a black robot bear, and Kuma means bear as well. Just like in the original, he loves to rant, though in this version it put the Warriors of Hope to sleep.  
**

 **2\. In the original Another Episode, you would give Hiroko the Hit List cards, and then she would send people to those locations to search for them. In this version of Another Episode, the reversal is happening where she's asking Komaru and Mukuro to find them with the Hit List cards.**

 **Well that's about it for now. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and as usual, if you guys have anything you want to say, point out, criticize, etc, don't be afraid to do so. Till the next chapter!**


	15. Aggravated Separation

**We are finally at the next chapter! As always, I'll go over the previous reviews, before moving onto the chapter.**

 **doomqwer, you are definitely right that Monaca is not the nicest girl around, and will take advantage of others. Also right that the situation between Mukuro and Komaru currently could be better. I guess we'll see how things develop in this chapter.**

 **I hope you're all enjoying this story so far, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

We see Mukuro and Komaru both in the meeting room with Haiji. Haiji looked confused as both Komaru and Mukuro looked as if they were glaring daggers at each other, as he was certain the two got along or at the very least, were companions on some level, but decided to keep any questions he had about it, to himself, and decided to speak to speak about other things.

"So, you two are going to be looking for more survivors today, right?" Haiji decided to ask. Both Mukuro and Komaru nodded to him in response. "I see. Well in that case good luck and stay safe. Now before you two go, someone wanted to see you two,"

"Who wants to see us?" Mukuro asked, curious who would want to see her and Komaru.

"He should be here soon." Haiji said, and just as he said that, the doors to the meeting room opened. Both Mukuro and Komaru turned around and saw it was Taichi Fujisaki. He walked into the room with his laptop and had a small but calm smile on his face.

"I wanted to thank you two for finding me in Towa Tower yesterday. I just wanted to express my appreciation again," Taichi said. "You two along with Yukimaru and Kanon, and Haiji here as well for everything,"

"No problem!" Komaru said with a big smile. "So, what's next for you now?"

"I'm going to see what I can do here. Hopefully this whole terrible situation stops in the future," Taichi said calmly. "I wish you two to be safe, as well as anyone else exploring Towa City as well,"

"Thanks. We appreciate that," Komaru replied back.

"Of course. You two are a good team. Keep up that friendship you two have," Taichi said with a smile. Hearing this caused Komaru to frown and Mukuro to have an annoyed look on her face. Haiji seeing this, decided to say something.

"I already sent Kanon and Yukimura out to get more resources for the Resistance Base here," Haiji said, while Mukuro had a look of disapproval on her face as she was still not a big fan of that idea. "I was going to ask Yuta to join those two today, but apparently he's taking care of a stinkbug?"

"The stinkbug belongs to someone. He's making sure it survives for its owner," Komaru explained, while Haiji wondered even more about it now. "I personally think it's a nice thing to do,"

Haiji just stayed silent, not sure what to say to that as he looked away from them and just sighed. Seeing this, they took this as the cue to head off and search. Haiji turned to Taichi, as he wanted to speak to the other adult, regarding the situation in general, as the Resistance Leader decided to ask questions to Taichi, and Taichi began to ask questions to Haiji as well.

* * *

We reconvene with Class 78 as we see them in the meeting room, as most of them were looking at one particular person in the room. That person being Makoto, as his eyes were closed, his hands were held together, and he was deep in thought. Underneath his eyes were some signs of lack of sleep, as he was unsure what to do still, as conflicted thoughts went through him. The room was silent as everyone waited on Makoto, as he considered deciding what to do now in regard to the options he was given, yesterday. Finally, a sound of frustration came from him as his eyes awoke, and he looked exhausted, and placed his hands over his face now, trying to rest.

"Whoa… Makoto you look like you didn't sleep well last night at all," Hiro said concerned. "Did you get visions keeping you up all night?"

"I don't think Makoto has visions Hiro," Aoi said with a sigh.

"He's frustrated still because of having to choose between going to Towa City to ensure the remaining seven hostages connected to our class is safe and secure but risk putting himself in harm's way or not going and risking something happening to the remaining seven hostages that Mukuro didn't secure yet," Sakura stated.

"There's no guarantee that kid is going to keep her word though," Leon stated, as he looked annoyed.

"Exactly! How do we know, she isn't just lying just to get Makoto to Towa City?" Taka added.

"If Makoto gets there, he can probably kiss his ass goodbye with whatever they fucking got planned," Mondo said, sounding frustrated. "No way this isn't a trap of some kind. Makoto doesn't deserve to go out like that! He and Mukuro saved all our asses back in Hope's Peak!"

"But what about our remaining loved ones?" Hifumi asked, as the other turned to face him. "Look before you all yell at me, I don't want him to be hurt either, but I don't want our loved ones that weren't saved yet, hurt as well possibly. What if the kid wasn't lying?"

"Then… this is still a really bad situation," Chihiro said, feeling down. Uneasiness settled back in the room, but Kyoko decided to say something.

"Remember everyone, as I've said before, Makoto still has multiple days left. Maybe Mukuro can save the remaining ones in time before Makoto's time limit is over, to got here." Kyoko reminded.

"Perhaps, but that's not a guarantee," Celes said quietly. "In this situation, are the odds really in our favor, for those remaining hostages to not be hurt or have worse happen to them?"

"I wanted to ask something to Makoto, if anybody doesn't mind," Byakuya stated, as Makoto's attention focused towards the rich progeny. "Mukuro said she rescued seven of the fourteen hostages correct? Can you clarify which seven she rescued again?'

"The seven Mukuro rescued… well that's the thing. She only mentioned two of the seven she rescued," Makoto said back. "Komaru who is my sister and Kameko. I couldn't find out the rest, due to the connection being cut off,"

"Kameko? Who's Kameko?" Taka asked, sounding confused. Makoto was about to answer, but Toko interrupted, deciding to speak for him.

"My pet stinkbug," Toko reluctantly said out loud. "And before anyone says anything, don't judge me! People can have pet bugs!"

"Errr… what? We weren't going to judge-" but before Hiro could say anything more, Toko glared at him and shouted the following.

"I bet you're lying and are laughing at me on the inside or something!" Toko stammered out, sounding annoyed. "So, shut it crystal ball brain!"

"Hey! My brain is not a crystal ball… I'm pretty sure," Hiro said, as everyone else just rolled their eyes or had a blank expression and stayed quiet. Celes coughed to get everyone's attention onto her.

"Well I suppose a pet isn't unreasonable. My loved one that is trapped in Towa City is a pet as well," Celes stated.

"See!? There's nothing wrong with having a pet bug as being your loved one!" Toko added.

"To clarify, my pet is a cat though, and not a stinkbug," Celes said after that, as Toko looked annoyed at her. "I do agree that it isn't wrong to have pets as loved ones in general,"

"Anyway, so that means the remaining hostages that Mukuro rescued we don't know for sure who they are yet, and she still has seven hostages left," Leon said.

"I wish there was a way to check who she rescued so far," Mondo said. "I don't like all this bullshit of not knowing, especially with all the crazy shit happening in that city,"

"Well maybe we should wait out the time limit. Maybe Mukuro will be able to save the remaining ones by then," Taka suggested.

"I don't know… there's always a chance that something could happen to the remaining loved ones," Byakuya stated, with the others looking at him with mixed reactions. "I'm not saying that we should send Makoto in immediately but, considering the circumstances, things can always go south in general,"

"You shouldn't even suggest saying something like that!" Aoi chided, while Byakuya looked annoyed at her. "Makoto shouldn't have to risk his life in Towa City!"

"You say that, but if that's the case, then Mukuro should have to risk her life then?" Byakuya said back, causing everyone in the room to tense up. "All I'm saying is he has the option to do so, to ensure the remaining hostages aren't harmed potentially. That's all,"

"Mukuro chose to volunteer to go to Towa City though," Sakura stated.

"And does that mean no one else can't if they could?" Byakuya replied. "It's not our fault that child specified that only Makoto could come to Towa City and no one else,"

As his classmates continued to discuss and argue with each other, regarding the current situation, Makoto couldn't help but feel tense and bad, as he really hoped Mukuro, Komaru, and everyone else was safe. He also felt tense and bad, as his classmates there with him were starting to get heated in their own ways towards each other about it.

"I have to decide soon," Makoto thought to himself, as he continued to watch his classmates discuss and argue with each other, about this.

* * *

Both Mukuro and Komaru were reluctantly walking towards their next destination and were going through streets. Mukuro had her map in front of her, while Komaru slowly walked behind her, though she kept her distance. Awkward silence had overtaken them as the two were still trying not to speak to each other when possible. Komaru still felt that Mukuro was someone that she couldn't fully trust now, due to Mukuro staying choosing to not inform her of what she considered important, and Mukuro felt that Komaru had now begun to get on her actual nerves and wasn't one she could consider close, unlike Junko or Makoto. The two were within Towa City, trying to find the two locations that had the two hostages they were looking for. Komaru sighed as she felt the awkward quietness around them, aside from whenever they fought off Monokumas that would attack them as they were traversing, was starting to get to her, as she decided to try to make light conversation, even if a big part of her didn't want too.

"Mukuro… we're going to save two of the hostages today, aren't we?" Komaru said quietly. The teenager girl even wondered if the soldier girl would even respond to her, but to her surprise, she answered back.

"Yes. Fujiko Yamada at the Towa Bookstore, and Ayaka Haneyama at the Towa Police Station," Mukuro answered back, though she was just as quiet, as a big part of her didn't want to speak to the other girl as well. Komaru simply nodded back to Mukuro, as both kept walking. Today so far was arguably less awkward then yesterday, but it was still awkward, especially earlier in the morning. Komaru and Mukuro as they were now walking in a street area filled with stores, with Mukuro walking in front of Komaru with one of her knives drawn out. Both were still quiet now, though Komaru was now thinking whether to say sorry to Mukuro for getting angry at the other girl the other day. As they walked, Komaru couldn't help but dwell on what Taichi said.

"We're a good team… our friendship," Komaru whispered to herself. A part of her felt bad, that despite what happened yesterday, she felt partly a little bad, for the way she acted towards Mukuro. "Maybe I should apologize to her."

She still didn't like the fact that Mukuro was so secretive with her on things that she felt the right to know and that Mukuro didn't consider her close, but at the same time, she knew that the way things currently were between the two, would just end up hurting them both in the long run here in Towa City, to survive. Komaru took a deep breath as she decided to address the other girl.

"Hey Mukuro… can we talk?" Komaru asked out loud.

Mukuro turned around and shot Komaru a glare, while Komaru kept looking back at her, unflinching from it, as she had gotten used to Mukuro's personality for the most part at this point. Seeing that Komaru wasn't backing down, Mukuro decided to reply back.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?" Mukuro asked back, though she still felt a bit hostile to Komaru, due to before.

"I… I want to say sorry about how… I acted towards you the other day at Towa Tower," Komaru said. "It was wrong of me to go off on you like that, regardless if it was justified or not. So… I'm sorry and I hope you accept my apology,"

Mukuro stopped as she heard this and looked back at Komaru. The younger girl was looking at her seriously and sincerely at her.

"I don't know," Mukuro said back. Komaru looked confused back at her, from hearing that.

"You… you don't know?" Komaru asked, back. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know how I feel… I mean… I'm still kind of… conflicted about yesterday," Mukuro said quietly.

"Well to be honest, I still feel conflicted too but… the way the two of us are acting towards each other, will just make things worse over time," Komaru said quietly back.

"Agreed. At the very least, we should try to put up with each other for now. When we all get out of Towa City, that'll be the end of that. We're not friends still, just be aware of that," Mukuro said back to Komaru, as the soldier girl turned to face away from Komaru and began walking. Komaru felt a bit hurt hearing that, but reluctantly walked after her. Eventually the two arrived at the first of the two destinations they intended to go to. The Towa Bookstore, which was a large bookstore, that people would go to buy and read books in. The two entered and saw that there were many shelves filled with books, and a barista bar inside.

"No sign of Fujiko so far," Mukuro said, feeling concerned. No one was seen inside the large book store, as it seemed abandoned. Messily strew books were seen all around, and signs of dried blood was in the bookstore. Komaru gulped as she hoped there weren't any more Monokumas in the store. Looking around, they saw a door that led to what appeared to be an employee only area.

"Maybe she's in there?" Komaru suggested, as they slowly and carefully approached it. They slowly opened it and saw a comforting sight, as they were now in a large back employee storage room. Fujiko was sitting on a pile of books that looked like it was made to be a bed sort of, and nearby her was a trash bag filled with coffee cups and wrappers that had cookies in them originally. Fujiko was currently occupying herself with a manga and nearby her, was a large broom that was originally for the bookstore employees that used to sweep it. The two walked up to Fujiko, wondering if the girl would ever notice them, but she was still engrossed in the manga she was reading.

"Hello?" Komaru said, trying to catch Fujiko's attention. Fujiko put down the manga and stared at the two. She blinked as she looked at them, while Komaru blinked back at her, and Mukuro was wondering why everyone was just blinking, making her blink her eyes as well. Fujiko had dark brown hair and had her stylized where it had a solid spike of hair on top, brown eyes, thick eyebrows, and was a bit pudgy. She wore a brown long-sleeved school uniform, gray school pants, a gray tie, and finally black school shoes. She was staring blankly at the other two, before realization finally hit her, that she wasn't alone.

" **WAH!** " Fujiko cried out as she picked up the broom nearby her and was about to swing it at them, till Mukuro grabbed Fujiko's arm that tried to swing at them with her right arm, and did a shushing like motion with her free left arm.

"Calm down. We're not with the children or the Monokumas." Mukuro said as calm and collected as she could. Hearing Mukuro's tone, caused Fujiko to ease up slightly, but she still wondered about who these two are.

"Then who the heck, are you two then? You look like the tough girl with the heart of gold hidden within her, once the main protagonist manages to unearth it, from an anime with teen protagonists and the girl with the megaphone thing looks like the protagonist of a manga, where she tries to get with a guy or a guy tries to get with her!" Fujiko said, causing Mukuro to just stare back blankly at Fujiko, unsure how to feel from what she just heard while Komaru felt a blush coming onto her face. Fujiko eventually shook her head and calmed down as she decided to say something. "Oh yeah, nice cute smiley pin you got, soldier girl. Any reason you're wearing that?"

"Hmph," was all Mukuro sounded to that, as at this point, she was tired of talking about it. Komaru seeing Mukuro's silence on that, decided to interject.

"It reminds her of the first person to ever smile to her," Komaru teased with a giggle, with Mukuro scowling at Komaru while Fujiko blinked her eyes, wondering what Mukuro's deal was. "Anyway, we're not trying to hurt or kill you, unlike the kids and the Monokumas. We're here to help!"

Fujiko looked at them more, and their faces were mostly calm, though now a bit confused and awkward due what she said just before. Fujiko dropped the broom and let it fall to the ground for now, causing both Mukuro and Komaru to sight with relief.

"Alright. You two seem pretty chill compared to everything outside. Who are you two anyways?" Fujiko asked.

"Mukuro Ikusaba. I'm part of an organization that's here to rescue people," Mukuro explained.

"Komaru Naegi. One of the people Mukuro rescued. I'm helping her save the other hostages too and am one of your biggest fans! I love your work on Tara Spa! Your illustrations are to die for! They're drawn so well!" Komaru said with a huge grin.

"Nice to meet you both," Fujiko said as she extended her hand out. Komaru immediately went up to Fujiko and shook her hands, while Mukuro declined. "And nice to meet a fan of my work, though you, also sound like her sidekick. A teenager working for an organization that's trying to save people from killer robot bears and kids? Sounds like a plot for a future manga I might make, if I survive,"

Mukuro and Komaru both immediately both looked annoyed as they shouted the following to Fujiko.

"She is not my sidekick!/I am not her sidekick!" both Mukuro and Komaru shouted out, while Fujiko just shrugged.

"If you two say so. Still, after all this is over, you two as well as everything else that happened her, sound like good ideas for a new manga I might make. I'll make sure to draw you two good," Fujiko said. Komaru contemplated what she heard, as she went into a thinking position, seeing herself drawn by Fujiko and being the star of a manga possibly, while Mukuro rolled her eyes, not caring at all. "Well anyway, how are you two going to rescue me?"

"There's a hidden location that the kids don't know about, that myself, the adults, the hostages I saved, and others are hiding out in." Mukuro explained. "If you come with us, we can take you there,"

Fujiko looked contemplative as she wondered what to do. Seeing her hesitance, Komaru said something that caught Fujiko's attention.

"Mukuro knows your brother. She and him went to the same high school," Komaru said, with Mukuro glaring at Komaru for a bit, before she turned to face Fujiko who looked curious.

"I know your brother Hifumi. He was a classmate of mine at Hope's Peak Academy," Mukuro said, and Fujiko's eyes widened. "Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator,"

"You know Hifumi!?" Fujiko shouted out, feeling both excited and surprised. "Is he safe!?"

"Yes. He's back at the base, where the organization I work for is located," Mukuro explained more with Fujiko looking more and more convinced. "After I rescue all the people I intend to save, then I plan to get them all, along with myself and Komaru here, a way back there,"

"So please come with us Fujiko. You'll be safe at the Resistance Base, and we're well supplied," Komaru added. Fujiko looked pretty convinced at this point as she thought over what they said.

"Alright. I'll go with you two. Oh man, this is kind of exciting. I feel like I'm part of an anime or manga now!' Fujiko said with a big smirk. "Just give me a few moments, as I'll use the restroom around here and take some stuff with one of the shopping bags this bookstore has,"

Fujiko got off the pile of books she made, and left the storage room, as she headed off to use the restroom in the meantime. Komaru saw that she dropped the manga she was reading and went up to it to look at what it was. Once she got a good look on the contents of the book, her face went red, causing Mukuro to look confused.

"What are you looking at?" Mukuro asked. "What was she looking at rather?'

"Let's just say Fujiko… sure likes her pretty boys," Komaru said as she placed the manga down, as her face was still red. Mukuro just sighed and rolled her eyes and said nothing. Fujiko soon came back into the room and had a shopping bag filled with manga.

"You shouldn't carry all those manga. It'll just slow you down with all the Monokumas outside," Mukuro asked. Fujiko just shook her head, while Mukuro felt herself inwardly growling.

"Nope! I need my manga entertainment or I'm going to die of boredom. Sorry but no manga with me, means I don't go to this place you want me to go to," Fujiko said. Mukuro looked annoyed from hearing that.

"Come on Mukuro. We'll protect her from any Monokumas," Komaru said while Mukuro felt exasperated. "It'll be alright,"

"If that's the case, I'm ready to go!" Fujiko said, while Komaru wondered if she took more manga of that kind with her.

"Good. Let's head back the Resistance Base now," Mukuro said, glad she managed to find another hostage connected to her classmates. The three began to walk off, but then Komaru suddenly stopped. Mukuro seeing this stopped and felt annoyed. "What is it?"

"Shouldn't we also save the other hostage we were going to look for today as well, then bring them both back to the Resistance Base?" Komaru said. Fujiko grew curious, as she wondered who the other hostage they were going to save was, while Mukuro frowned.

"What we should do is head back to the Resistance Base first, and drop her off there, then go for our other hostage," Mukuro replied. The soldier girl then turned to Fujiko and said the following to her. "Wouldn't you rather be safe first?"

"Actually… this be more good material for my potential manga on this whole incident," Fujiko said, while Mukuro furrowed her eyes. "So, I rather see how this goes,"

"Yay! We also get to save Ayaka right away!" Komaru said with excitement in her voice. "Then I can get an autograph from her and Fujiko, once this is all over!"

"Ayaka?" Fujiko said confused, as Komaru nodded to her.

"Ayaka Haneyama! An idol who is part of Sayaka Maizono's group!" Komaru said with a big grin. Fujiko's own eyes immediately sparkled with excitement upon hearing this.

" **OH MY GOD! AYAKA HANEYAMA!?** " Fujiko yelled out of excitement as she began to jump up and down in excitement. Komaru seeing this, felt giddy herself seeing this while Mukuro felt conflicted about being left out. " **I'M A HARDCORE SAYAKER!** "

" **ME TOO! I ALWAYS BUY THEIR MERCHANDISE AND CDS!** " Komaru geeked out, as both her and Fujiko began to frantically talk about the idols while Mukuro just felt more annoyed.

"Fine. Let's go save Ayaka and then head back to the Resistance Base for today," Mukuro said as she headed off with both other girls following after her. As they walked, the other two continued and continued to talk about everything related to idols, Sayaka, and Ayaka herself while Mukuro felt annoyed from all the chatter, as she felt a headache beginning to form, as she whispered the following to herself while walking. "This is going to be a long day…"

* * *

We see the Warriors of Hope now, in the same room from yesterday. Kurokuma was still sitting in his throne like chair, though this time he was silent, as the remaining Warriors of Hope decided it was best for Kurokuma to remain quiet for the time being. Nagito was also present as he held a tray that had three milkshakes with it. One that was vanilla for Nagisa, one that was strawberry for Kotoko, and one that was mint chip for Monaca. He removed the glove from his hand that was swelling from before, as it was finally fully healed and back to its normal self. The three sat together at a black and white circular table in the room, ready to discuss Nagisa's plans.

"So now that we're all well rested, we will reconvene from yesterday in regard to my plan, to take out the demons that still lurk in Towa City. Before discussing it, I feel a bit parched," Nagisa stated calmly. He then snapped his fingers, as Nagito approached the table the three sat at. "Servant. Our milkshakes please,"

"Of course," Nagito as he calmly placed a milkshake besides each Warrior of Hope. After he was done doing so, Kotoko immediately took a sip from her strawberry milkshake, and squealed from delight.

"Super sweet strawberry milkshakes are the best!" Kotoko cheered, as she stopped to sip her milkshake. "I feel so pumped up, to kill some demons!"

"Time to try Mr. Servant's milkshakes for the first time," Monaca said as she took a sip of her mint chip milkshake. After taking a sip, she pondered for a bit, then ended up smiling as she was pleased. "This is good Mr. Servant! Monaca approves,"

"I might as well see how this taste, seeing how I didn't take your vanilla milkshake last time. I'm thankful your revolting hand is back to normal," Nagisa stated as he took a sip from his milkshake. He remained calm as he said the following, and actually looked a bit pleased. "It's adequate for a milkshake."

"Why thank you. I aim to serve, after all," Nagito stated calmly.

"Now remain silent, as I talk with my two companions regarding important matters," Nagisa answered back, while Nagito just nodded.

"Now Nagisa… let's hear what your big plan to take out the demons are," Kotoko said, as she took another sip of her strawberry milkshake. "You said something yesterday about a plan, right?"

"Yes. A plan that will take care of the demons," Nagisa stated confidently. "Basically… I have discovered a location, most of them have been hiding out in. The ones that are part of a so-called Resistance,"

"How did you find that out?" Kotoko asked curiously.

"A combination of studying the security camera footage in Towa City, depicting the two that defeated Masaru and Jataro and the tracking device for the demon's explosive bracelet that is worth a significant amount of points" Nagisa answered back. "I've deduced with absolute near certainty after studying their footage along with general camera footage, and the tracking sensor for that demon, that those two, along with others are going to a certain location within the city, where many of the demons are hiding,"

"Oh yeah. The demons with the explosive bracelets, we can track," Kotoko said, with realization. "I forgot about that since I've been busy with other things,"

"That sounds very good Nagisa!" Monaca praised with a smile, and as she sipped more of her milkshake. "Monaca is very proud of you!"

Nagisa blushed hard as his face lit up like person who ate a spicy pepper, while Kotoko giggled at what she heard, while Monaca simply smiled.

"Thanks Monaca… I appreciate that," Nagisa stated, as he looked away briefly, before coughing a bit to calm himself down. He drank more of his milkshake and took a couple of deep breaths before continuing. "Now then… my plan is very simple. We send a large horde of Monokumas to attack their base, and that should be the end of them,"

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" Kotoko said with approval. "When do you plan to do it?"

"As soon as possible. After all, the sooner we crush them, the faster we can build Towa City into the children's paradise we want," Nagisa stated.

"Why rush?" Monaca said, looking at Nagisa with an inquisitive expression. Nagisa blinked his eyes back at Monaca while Kotoko just opted to stay silent by drinking more of her milkshake. "Monaca like the plan, but we can save it for later. You know… when the time is right and all,"

"Why… rush? When… the time is right?" Nagisa said back confused to Monaca. "Shouldn't we… take out all the adults as soon as possible?"

"Well… the way I see it Nagisa… Monaca likes to play her games as long as possible," Monaca answered back, as Nagisa continued to look confused and a bit nervous now. "It be no fun if the game ended early, don't you think?"

"Well… I guess," Nagisa stated, still feeling unsure of what Monaca was saying. "But… if we don't take them out as soon as possible… things could change and-

"Nagisa," Monaca simply and calmly stated. Her facial expression remained calm, but Nagisa had a feeling he shouldn't have kept pushing for this. "Wouldn't it be… disappointing if the game ended so soon?"

"Disappointing!?" Nagisa shouted with a gulp, as he sounded nervous now, just from what Monaca just said, while Kotoko just kept sipping her milkshake, choosing to stay quiet.

"Yep. Disappointing," Monaca said with no hesitation on her face and with a smile. Nagisa looked like he was ready to just die right then and there from hearing Monaca say such things about him. "You're not living up to expectations at all. In fact… maybe Monaca will take away your leadership and-

"Wait!" Nagisa said with sweat apparent on his face now. "I change my mind! We… we can save my plan for later. When Monaca says the time is right for it!"

"Awww. That's so nice of you Nagisa!" Monaca said in glee, while Nagisa began to sigh in relief. "Well Monaca still appreciates your plan and will use it, when the time is right,"

"Where is the location exactly anyway?" Kotoko asked. Nagisa walked up to Kotoko and whispered it to the pink haired girl. Kotoko then smirked, from the information she just heard. "I know we have that tracker for that demon worth a ton of points, with that explosive bracelet we had put on her, but I want to know where those dirty demons are hiding out still,"

"Let Monaca know too Nagisa," Monaca stated, which Nagisa promptly nodded back to. He then walked over to Monaca and whispered the location to her as well.

"May I be privy to this location as well?" Nagito asked calmly. Nagisa just glared at Nagito, from hearing that.

"I thought I told you to be silent," Nagisa said seriously back. "Also no. As you are a demon, and demons aren't privy to information from the Warriors of Hope, we deem not permissible, to the likes of you. Even if you are our servant,"

"Of course, of course. Why did I even ask?" Nagito said with a smile, while the three Warriors of Hope just sighed.

"You know… while we're all here, and talking about plans and stuff, I have a plan of my own I want to talk about," Kotoko said, as the other two's attention turned to her, as she had just formed one just now. "That's right! Nagisa isn't the only one with plans! I can come up with plans too!"

"Oh? What's your plan Kotoko?" Monaca asked curious, as she didn't expect this. "I'm sure it's super sweet,"

"I plan to get that special demon that's worth a ton of points, that's hanging out with… that soldier girl that kind of looks like Big Sis Junko," Kotoko said, as she herself wondered about the soldier girl. Nagisa had a curious expression, wondering what Kotoko's plan was, and about the so-called soldier girl that bared resemblance to Big Sis Junko, as he had his own speculations but wasn't one hundred percent sure about. Monaca flashed a very brief angry expression on her face, about hearing about the soldier girl, before calming herself immediately, as she now just looked curious. "Anyway, I plan to take care of those two,"

"And how do you plan to do that exactly?" Nagisa asked, feeling a bit skeptical "Both Masaru and Jataro failed in taking care of that special demon and that soldier demon that bears resemblance to Big Sis Junko,"

"Well for starters, I'm no dummy like those two! In fact, I don't even think they noticed that soldier demon looks like Big Sis Junko!" Kotoko said annoyed.

"What does that have to do with anything? I'm sure there are plenty of people on this planet that look similar to each other, but aren't related at all," Nagisa said a bit confused. "And maybe they were actually focused on trying to kill her and that special demon for them to notice, or for it to matter,"

"Well whatever. Maybe it doesn't matter. I don't know." Kotoko said with a shrug. "It just seems kind of weird. She looks so much like Big Sis Junko. If she had a wig and dressed up like Big Sis Junko, I bet she could pass off as-"

"Kotoko… Nagisa… stop talking about that soldier demon," Monaca stated calmly, but with a hint of a dark serious tone while doing so, which both Nagisa and Kotoko noticed. "Let's just hear your plan, okay Kotoko?"

"Sure Monaca," Kotoko said a with a gulp of her own, feeling nervous again. Kotoko then calmed down, as she just smirked and took out what looked like a hit list card and placed it on the table. Who or what was on the hit list card, couldn't be seen.

"You plan to use one of Big Sis Junko's hostages in some way?" Nagisa asked curiously.

"Yep! Those two are slowly finding all the special guests that Big Sis Junko wanted us to keep as hostages here in Towa City. With this special guest, I plan to take care of them myself! Then it'll be a totes sweet victory from there, for me!" Kotoko bragged.

"I don't know. Would that really work?" Nagisa stated. "Sounds like they see it as a trap and not go,"

"Of course, it'll work! Don't be so lame Nagisa!" Kotoko said, while the blue haired boy looked even more skeptical. "You know how mice go after cheese? Well my bait is the cheese, they're the mice in this case, and I'm going to be the cool kitty cat, that catches them!"

"That sounds like logic, Jataro would use," Nagisa whispered to himself as Kotoko was still smirking with confidence, but then spoke up loud for what he had to say next. "How exactly do you plan to use this bait to catch them though?"

"That's for me to know and you to not know, Nagisa," Kotoko taunted, while Nagisa just shrugged.

"Well Monaca approves of your plan Kotoko. You should do it tomorrow," Monaca stated as Kotoko nodded in agreement with what Monaca said.

"Alright! Time to take care of those two nasty demons for sure!" Kotoko cheered gleefully. "Well that's it for my plan. Anyone else have anything they want to say?"

"No, I believe that's it from me," Nagisa answered back.

"Monaca doesn't have anything to say either. Well if that's the case, then this meeting is over," Monaca stated. Both Kotoko and Nagisa got up and then left the room, while Monaca ordered Nagito to get her another mint chip milkshake.

* * *

We now see Mukuro, Komaru, and Fujiko standing in front of the Towa City Police Station. Komaru and Fujiko were still talking like crazy, talking about everything related to Sayaka, Ayaka, and their idol group in general, while Mukuro felt like a balloon that was about to burst from the constant chatter of idol related topics.

"Let's get inside there, and find Ayaka," Mukuro stated, trying to sound calm. Komaru and Fujiko however didn't hear her, as Mukuro tried raising her voice a bit more. "I said… let's get inside there and find Ayaka,"

Both Komaru and Fujiko however didn't hear her, as both girls kept chatting up a storm. Mukuro felt ready to yell at them, till suddenly a large scream erupted from the police station, catching their attention.

"Come on Mukuro! Ayaka might be in danger in the police station!" Komaru shouted, looking serious now.

"That's what I was trying to say earl-" but Mukuro got cut off as Komaru ran into the police station, with Fujiko following after Komaru. Mukuro let out an irritated breath, and just ran after the two. The three were now in the police station and noticed that there were two Guard Monokumas in the Police Station. The two were trying to shield bash a door that wouldn't open for some reason, while a voice from the other side of said door, could be heard.

"If you damn bears come in here, I'll throw you robots out, like the people who sneak backstage into our concerts!" shouted a female voice that sounded both afraid and angry. Komaru and Fujiko's eyes immediately lit up from realization. Fujiko covered her mouth as she wanted to keep quiet still, as she was so tempted to freak out from excitement. Komaru however could not contain it, as she decided to voice it.

" **OH MY GOD! AYAKA IS THAT YOU!?** " Komaru yelled out of delight, while Mukuro's face looked both surprised and angry from hearing that, as the two Guard Monokuma's attention, was now drawn to them.

"Ummm… those Monokumas now see us," Fujiko said worriedly, as she ran right behind Mukuro and Komaru in fear. The two Guard Monokumas charged forward with their riot shields, intending to ram into Komaru and Mukuro. Komaru immediately switched to some Knockback bullets and fired shots at the Monokumas, knocking away their riot shields. Mukuro then took out her knives and quickly dashed and sliced through then, turning them into metal. "Wow. You two can literally pass as anime or manga or maybe even videogame characters with what you can do. I'm definitely doing a manga of you two, after this is all over,"

"Thanks. Make sure to draw us like that," Komaru said with a big grin. Mukuro however looked very frustrated, as she walked over to Komaru with a scowl and glare. Komaru felt a bit tense as Mukuro was now looking at her face to face. "Did… I do something wrong?"

"Did you do something wrong? Did you do something wrong!?" Mukuro shouted, as she felt so close to just giving Komaru a punch to the face, while Fujiko stayed silent, choosing to not get involved between those two. "You literally just put us in more unnecessary danger! You should be lucky that there were only two Monokumas around!"

"Well we defeated them easily, so it wasn't that big a deal," Komaru replied, feeling her hostility to Mukuro, start to come back. "We're alive, aren't we?"

"That's not the point! You made the situation more dangerous because you couldn't control yourself!" Mukuro shouted back, still feeling angry. "Haven't you ever heard of, work smarter, not harder? We could have easily snuck up behind those two and took them out!"

"Well it doesn't matter now. You need to chill out Mukuro," Komaru said back, glaring at her. "Just because we weren't efficient about it,"

"No. This has nothing to do with efficiency," Mukuro replied back, feeling more annoyed. "It's about safety. Our safety. We both can't falter and always have to be smart about how we handle ourselves. Like… imagine if we were separated from each other, that would mean you be in grave danger, and I wouldn't want that,"

"Well I can take care of myself! I've been kicking Monokuma butt for a while now! I can take care of myself!" Komaru replied, feeling like Mukuro underestimated her. "Aren't you proud that I can be self-reliant?"

"That's also not the point!" Mukuro answered back. "And even besides that, it's not like soldiers don't fight alongside others. I have in the past and we still needed to work together. Working together also means we don't make things harder for ourselves and each other,"

"Well that's funny Mukuro. You sure act like you want to work together with me, despite the fact you hide so much important information from me!" Komaru yelled back.

"That's different! I'm not obligated to tell you everything!" Mukuro shouted back herself.

"Then I'm not obligated to trust you!" Komaru yelled back. Both Mukuro and Komaru continued to argue, not stopping now, as both were too heated, as both were now not happy with each other again. Fujiko still stayed silent, not wanting to get involved. However, the manga artist noticed yelling coming from the doors, that the Guard Monokumas were trying to get into earlier.

"Hello? Are people out there? I hear people yelling?" shouted the voice that presumably belonged to Ayaka. "Well whoever's out there, can you please come get me? I'm sick of eating donuts the cops left in the refrigerator in here, before they all got killed. I'm going to have to shave so much weight off before the next idol concert, whenever that happens,"

Fujiko looked to Komaru and Mukuro, seeing if they open the door, but both teenager girls were still arguing with each other. Fujiko just shrugged and walked over to the doors and carefully opened them, and there was Ayaka, holding a police baton, with both a nervous and frustrated expression on her face. The room Ayaka was in, looked like a break room, that police employees would have used, as there was a coffee machine, a refrigerator, and a large brown leather couch. The idol had long dark brown hair, dark grayish eyes, big ears, and a bit of a plump nose. She wore a standard high school sailor uniform that was colored in blue and white and wore grey shoes. Ayaka also had a habit of using perfume, as a smell of sweet perfume was in the area now. The smell of the perfume was strong enough to catch Komaru and Mukuro's attention, as both girls, now noticed Ayaka and stopped arguing with each other.

"Ummm… who are you three? And why were two of you arguing?" Ayaka asked, not sure what to make of them. The three other girls just stared back, feeling awkward now. "Well thank you three for getting rid of those Monokumas,"

"Well those two did all the work," Fujiko said, as she pointed to Komaru and Mukuro. Komaru had a big goofy grin, while Mukuro sighed with relief that another hostage was now saved. Ayaka then looked at Komaru, and Mukuro, deciding to see who they were first.

"I'm Komaru Naegi! Nice to meet you!" Komaru said happily as she walked up to Ayaka and let her hand out. Ayaka looked hesitant, wondering if she could trust her or not. "Don't be afraid! I'm one of your biggest fans! You're part of Sayaka's idol group!"

Ayaka hearing this, smirked a bit, feeling good to have a fan of hers around, even if it was in a city full of killer robot bears. She then turned to Mukuro, wondering who she was.

"I'm Mukuro Ikusaba. I'm here to rescue hostages, and you're one of the hostages I intend to rescue," Mukuro stated calmly. "I'm part of an organization called Future Foundation, and I'm trying to rescue people from this city,"

"Huh. Explains the get up you're wearing… kind of," Ayaka said, as she noticed Mukuro's weapons on her being. She then noticed the smiley pin on Mukuro and wanted to comment on it, but before she could ask, was interrupted, as Fujiko went next in introducing herself.

"I'm another hostage these two rescued just earlier," Fujiko replied happily, as she was excited to meet Ayaka as well. "I'm Fujiko Yamada, and I'm also a big fan of your work!"

"Fujiko Yamada… aren't you a manga artist?" Ayaka said curiously, while Fujiko felt honored that Ayaka even knew who she was. "I was reading a lot of manga to pass the time in general while in this crazy city,"

"That I am!" Fujiko said with surprise, that Ayaka acknowledged her work. "Did you like my work?"

"It was drawn well, and rather interesting. Maybe when this is all over, I'll hire you to do a manga about me if that's alright with you?" Ayaka said back with a smirk, while Fujiko looked like she was ready to faint. She then turned her attention to Komaru and Mukuro and got serious again. "Anyway… what now? I mean, I feel pretty safe being holed up in this police station… well it was good till those Monokumas came by. You three know a safer place?"

"We do. We're going to take you to a place where all the adults are hiding out, called the Resistance Base," Komaru explained happily. "You'll be safe there as the kids don't know about it at all,"

"I wonder if I have any more of my fans there," Ayaka pondered to herself out loud, while Mukuro just rolled her eyes from what she just heard. "Well let's head over there. This police station isn't exactly what I call safe anymore. Plus, I trust you people, since you just saved me from those Monokumas,"

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Komaru said, happy to have Ayaka saved. All four girls began to leave and were soon outside of the Towa City Police station. "So Ayaka… how was being an idol like?"

"Great. More fangirling idol talk coming," Mukuro whispered annoyed under her breath, as she was tempted to cover her ears. She then said the following out loud to the others. "Can we have a change of subjects instead?"

"Awww come on Mukuro! You're no fun!" Komaru said with a pouty face while Mukuro shot the younger teen a glare. Fujiko just looked towards the idol, as Ayaka just sighed.

"It's alright. I had something I wanted to ask about anyway," Ayaka said, causing Mukuro to sigh with relief. At least till she heard what Ayaka said next. "Why do you have a smiley pin on you?"

Mukuro's face had an awkward expression form, as she looked away, as she was starting to dread the excuse she came up with, for why she wore this smiley pin. Before Mukuro could say anything in response, Komaru spoke up.

"It reminds her of the first person to ever have smiled at her," Komaru chimed in, causing Mukuro to glare at Komaru. Ayaka blinked her eyes, wondering who was so special to warrant such a memento to them and just for smiling at her.

"You have a pin of someone, for being the first who ever smiled at you?" Ayaka asked, sounding confused. "I get smiles on a daily basis from people, so I really don't understand what made your first that special,"

"Well this… person is really special to me," Mukuro said, with an awkward expression, as she didn't feel comfortable talking about this. Technically she didn't wear the smiley pin because of said person, but it was an excuse that worked well for it. "And I'll leave it at that,"

"Why so hush about it? Whoever that boy is, must be lucky to have a girl like you having a thing for him?" Ayaka teased. "Does this boy even know he likes you?"

"I said I'll leave it at that!" Mukuro stammered out, as she felt awkward about the subject still. "Seriously, it's not a big deal."

"You say that, but then you have the smiley pin to remind you of that person constantly then," Komaru teased and pointed out. Mukuro gritted her teeth from hearing this from Komaru. "Just saying. You didn't have to wear the smiley pin,"

Mukuro looked annoyed again, as she sent Komaru another glare and was about to respond, till Fujiko said something that caught everyone else's attention, as she didn't want the two arguing again hopefully.

"You know… as a manga artist, I've drawn a lot of mangas that involved naked boys… and as someone into that… if you want, I can draw a manga of the guy you like if you want," Fujiko said with both a mischievous expression and one of someone trying to hold back her laughter. Mukuro's face went fully red as her face was extremely flushed with awkwardness, while Ayaka busted out laughing from Mukuro's reaction, while Komaru's face felt awkward in its own way, as she had a certain suspicion who the person who Mukuro liked was. "I mean, it be something you can look at it in your own time, and-"

"That's enough!" Mukuro shouted in a mixture of frustration and sounding even embarrassed. "You know what? Talk about anything else but this alright!?"

"Alright, let's lay off this then," Ayaka said with laughter, as she calmed herself down. Mukuro breathed a sigh of relief, while Fujiko giggled herself and Komaru just shrugged.

"So Ayaka, have anything you want to talk about from your idol career with us?" Komaru asked, as they all began to head back to the Resistance Base. Ayaka, Fujiko, and Komaru continued to converse as Mukuro stayed silent and annoyed, as they all headed back to the Resistance Base.

* * *

We now see Nagito in the room where the Warriors of Hope had their meeting in before. That same room where Kurokuma was seen sitting on his throne. The Warriors of Hope were now gone from the room, each elsewhere. Nagito was looking at Kurokuma and the black bear was staring back at the servant.

"Well this must be something. Do you want to listen to me talk about my awesome stories?" Kurokuma asked with glee present in his voice, as Nagito allowed the robot bear to speak. "Or are you just in the mood to get me a milkshake? Cause if you are, I can really go for a dark chocolate milkshake with-

"You can stop the act. None of the Warriors of Hope are here," Nagito said. Kurokuma remained briefly quiet, before laughing back at the teenager.

"What act? I'm always this lovably charismatic and charming with my banter!" Kurokuma boasted, unphased by what Nagito just said.

"The act of who you really are, of course," Nagito said. Kurokuma briefly glared at Nagito, but then began to laugh wildly at what he heard.

"Who I really am? What the hell is that suppose to mean? I'm Kurokuma! The big bad bear of Towa City!" Kurokuma whined. "Sent here by the lovely diva of despair, to help the kiddies with their plans!"

"If you say so," Nagito said, not believing Kurokuma for a second, as he had a strong feeling that Kurokuma was being directly controlled by a certain someone as opposed to being just an AI. "Anyway, I wished to discuss certain things with you,"

"Oh? Like what? Like how good I look with all my snazzy stuff on me?" Kurokuma bragged. "Or how I'm the best at spinning the best stories?"

"Well for starters… I have plans of my own for the future," Nagito stated with a smirk.

"So? Why should I care?" Kurokuma replied without a care in the world. Nagito just smirked back at Kurokuma. "Why bother telling someone like me about this?"

"The reason I'm telling you this is… I think you may know where the Resistance Base is," Nagito replied.

"I know where the Resistance Base is? Why the hell would I know that? Nagisa didn't tell me jack earlier. Hell, I was quiet earlier, when he was talking about that," Kurokuma answered back.

"That's true… but I think you and I both know that, you know more then you're letting on," Nagito said calmly. "Knowing who's behind you, she would have another under directly her at least, in this city who would know, and thus she could relay the information through you to me,"

"I know more then I'm letting on? That's funny coming from you, wise guy! I'm pretty damn sure I can say the same thing coming from a weird dude like you," Kurokuma said back with a laugh. "But let's say for some freaky reason, I did know where the Resistance Base was… why should I share such juicy details with someone like you? How does that effect you having your own plans?"

"Besides me giving you the chance to talk more, it gives you the chance to cause some more… unpredictability," Nagito said calmly as Kurokuma looked with great interest towards Nagito now, with those words spoken. "You like it when things are unpredictable, don't you? I can bring more of that if I know the right information,"

Kurokuma just stayed quiet, as the black bear just stared at Nagito, considering his next words carefully. Soon, Kurokuma just began to laugh wildly and began to cough and hack for a bit, before fully calming down and responding.

"Tch. I don't know what's gotten into you, but if it'll make you stop bugging me, I'll let you in on a couple of things maybe," Kurokuma said back, as he motioned for Nagito to step close to him. Once the teen was close, the bear began to whisper information into Nagito's ear, as the servant just smirked, from what he was hearing.

* * *

We now see Mukuro and Komaru, with Fujiko and Ayaku standing right behind them, in front of the gate that led to the Resistance Base, as the gate was slowly opening up. Komaru and Mukuro walked in, with the two hostages they saved, following after them.

"Wow. Who would have thought there was something like this underground?" Fujiko said with both excitement and amazement while any nearby apathetic adults, just looked tiredly at her. "It's like I'm really in an anime, with a crazy over the top plot!"

"Well my idol life is practically a TV show arguably, so this be the chapter that gets apocalyptic apparently," Ayaka remarked sarcastically, as the four continued walking in. "For a place that's underground and practically in a sewer, this isn't so bad. Better then being up top with all the killer Monokumas,"

"Well we're glad to have rescued you two," Komaru said with a smile, while Mukuro looked like she was just ready to go to bed, after everything earlier. Mukuro took out her notepad and checked off both Fujiko and Ayaka's names, as they were now secured.

"You two head to that main building over there," Mukuro pointed out, as Fujiko and Ayaka looked to where Mukuro was pointing. "In there, the leader of the Resistance Base should be there, and he'll set you two up with a place to stay here,"

"Thank you two so much. We really appreciate it," Fujiko said, as she was glad to be in a safe location now. "And I'll remember to not freak out when I see the white Monokuma, from what you two told us, while we were all walking over here, right?"

"Yep! Shirokuma is a good bear, and he's been helping everyone here!" Komaru replied, as Fujiko nodded and began to walk away.

"You two stay cool. If the world somehow stops being messed up, you two will forever get free access to free concerts with me and my idol friends, when this is all over," Ayaka said with a smirk, as she began to walk after Fujiko. Komaru was smiling from giddiness from hearing that while Mukuro just sighed, not caring about such a prospect.

"So, I guess we're done for today, right Mukuro?" Komaru asked, as Mukuro just looked at the other girl back annoyed and nodded. "Also, I'm so excited we get to go to free concerts in the future. Aren't you excited?"

"Not really," Mukuro said back. "And even if I was into that stuff, I really rather not go with you,"

"Come on… you don't mean that, right?" Komaru asked, hoping the soldier girl say otherwise.

"I do," Mukuro replied simply and quick in response. "In fact, I'm starting to think I don't want you going with me, when I go out into the city, trying to save the remaining hostages, or whatever else I need to do. You were a burden to me today. If anything, that's what I wanted from the beginning, for you to stay here and be safe,"

Komaru frowned and felt really hurt, hearing that from the other girl, as she could tell Mukuro was still mad at her, from what happened earlier today. But she also felt frustrated that Mukuro didn't trust her to take care of herself out in Towa City as well.

"Mukuro… look I'm sorry about today, but please don't do that," Komaru replied back with a hint of a hurt tone. "We're a good team! I'm trying to become stronger and not stay as a weak person. I can save others like you do as well! So please don't-"

"No. That's an order," Mukuro stated, as she glared at Komaru now. Komaru felt anger rising to her, as she glared back. "Today was proof that we're better off not heading out to Towa City together in the future and that's it."

Mukuro began to walk to the structure to where she and Komaru stayed at, but Komaru stood where she was. Mukuro noticing this, looked back at her and waited, but Komaru refused to walk after her.

"Are you not going to bed?" Mukuro asked. Komaru just looked back at Mukuro with an intense glare, while Mukuro looked irritated.

"If you think we shouldn't work together, then we shouldn't even be together, even here," Komaru said as she began to walk away from Mukuro. "I'm going to talk to Shirokuma, so I can use one of the empty housing structures here. You'll have your building and I'll have mine. I'll prove to you in the future I can be strong Mukuro, and not be a burden like I was today,"

"Komaru… you don't have to prove any-" but Komaru was too distraught with frustration, as the teen walked off, away from her, before the soldier girl could finish what she wanted to say. Mukuro stood quietly and by herself now, as she had mixed feelings come from what just happened. Her face became stoic, as she wasn't sure what to feel at all.

"I… I shouldn't have called her a burden," Mukuro whispered quietly now to herself, and then stopped and shook her head. "I want Komaru to be safe but… no this is for the best. Maybe... she needs time alone to calm down. Maybe... I need time alone to calm down as well,"

Mukuro walked to where she and Komaru normally stayed at and decided to call it a night. She groomed herself, ate dinner alone, and went to bed, while Komaru soon did the same in a different structure. Both girls were now more separated from each other, more then before, as today only seemed to bring more to divide the two.

Hours passed, as it was now night, and everyone at the Resistance Base were now inside the housing structures, as everyone slept. A tiny black and white dragonfly like drone, managed to sneak past the large metal gate that served as the entrance and exit of the Resistance Base, going through the miniscule part that it did not cover. On the small dragonfly like drone was a tiny claw holding what appeared to be a card. Elsewhere, we see Kotoko in a surveillance like room, holding what appeared to be a remote control, guiding the dragonfly drone with a black joystick. Nearby her was her pink tablet, that was now showing the location of where Komaru was at currently.

"I'll have to thank Nagisa later. Him telling me about this place and reminding me that the explosive bracelets can be tracked, is going to make my plan tomorrow, ever so sweet," Kotoko said with glee. She carefully and slowly moved the dragonfly drone move, as she looked at the monitor in the room that depicted what the drone saw, as the drone had red eyes that served as its cameras. Looking at her tablet and the footage, she carefully guided it to the housing structure that had Komaru in it. Kotoko saw that the front door had little window with metal bars apart. "Heheheh. This is like taking candy from a baby, with how easy this is going so far,"

Kotoko carefully flew the drone through the small window, space, careful to not crash it against the metal bars. She saw in the camera footage, Komaru was sleeping on the bed in the room, in her pajamas. Kotoko wondered where the girl that resembled Big Sis Junko was, but shrugged the thought, finding it pointless for what she was trying to do at the moment. She carefully flew the drone over the bed and towards Komaru and saw that the teen had one of her hands opened and exposed. She flew the dragonfly drone over it, and made the claw on the dragonfly drone, loosen its grip, dropping the card onto Komaru's hand, while the teenager still slept.

"Perfect. If my bait and plan work, then that demon is going to get… motivated," Kotoko said with mischievous and malicious glee. She then carefully had the dragonfly drone exit the housing structure, the same way it got in, and soon the Resistance Base. Kotoko then left the room, as she felt extremely excited for tomorrow, as she soon went to sleep herself, eager for the next day.

* * *

We see Makoto in what appeared to be his bedroom in his room in the living quarters, that was part of the Future Foundation. It was also night for him as well. He was currently in green pajamas, and was sitting on his back, on the large white bed that had black blankets over it. He was staring at the ceiling in his room, still pondering about the situation. How he was told from the Warrior of Hope that he had to show up at a certain location in Towa City, within a week at the latest. How if he didn't the hostages that the Warriors of Hope did have, would be harmed. Yet he had a strong feeling that it was most likely a trap set for him. After all, he had helped foil the plan of their so called "Big Sister Junko," from the failed "Killing School Life," from Hope's Peak Academy. They probably were ready to do terrible things to him, the moment he got into Towa City himself.

"Going into Towa City… for what's most likely a death trap… talk about my luck," Makoto said to himself with a sigh. "Still… I don't want to risk all our loved ones being hurt or killed,"

He felt a gnawing in his stomach, that continued and didn't stop. He knew that he still had more time before his time limit was up, but he felt the longer he waited, the more likely something bad would have happened. To their loved ones who were all still in Towa City, which included his sister who he cherished so much, and Mukuro who he was close with. It didn't help that he felt his classmates would slowly become more on edge as well, if what he saw earlier indicated.

"Mukuro…" Makoto whispered quietly, thinking back to Hope's Peak Academy, during the failed Killing School Life. How he went out of his way to save Mukuro, even if it nearly costed his own life to do so. But he then remembered that if giving up his own life, meant those that those he cared about were safe, then he wouldn't have minded. How he risked his own wellbeing to help everyone else escape from Junko's failed killing game at Hope's Peak Academy. Makoto thought back on what Byakuya said during the meeting and felt his fists clenching. "Mukuro shouldn't have to endure going to Towa City alone to save everyone. We both worked together to save our classmates in Hope's Peak Academy… I'm going to help her save our loved ones being held in Towa City myself,"

His eyes now looked determined, and while he felt a pang of nervousness within himself, he felt more confident than before, regarding his current situation.

"I'm going to Towa City tomorrow,"

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **Things are definitely heating up. Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. Fujiko Yamada, just like her brother Hifumi, is well versed in making things and some of those things can be perverted (besides having an interest herself). Fujiko was not encountered in the original game.**

 **2\. Ayaka Haneyama is a member of Sayaka's idol group, and like a majority of the hostages in the original game, is not encountered.**

 **3\. Kotoko's plan in this take of Another Episode, differs slight from what she does from in the original game, in regards to Komaru, at least in this chapter. Of course that can be said in general for a lot of the events in general  
**

 **That's it for now. As always, if you have any criticisms, anything you wish to say, any thoughts, etc, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and everything so far. Till the next chapter!**


	16. Cute Girl's Battlefield

**We are finally back with Chapter 16! I will address the previous reviews before moving on.**

 **From DannyPhantom619, no I definitely don't think Makoto is the type to yield normally, to Junko and the like under normal circumstances.**

 **From doomqwer, things are definitely ramping up in general. Also in that situation, I wouldn't be surprised if she had a headache form possibly.**

 **From the Guest, I appreciate that you think this is good so far and I hope to continue to make it good for you and everyone. I apologize for the long wait as I've been both severely busy and sick these past couple of months (I unfortunately still am sick) but now this chapter is finally here.  
**

 **So as usual I hope you're all enjoying this story so far, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

It was now the next morning as we reconvene with Komaru, sleeping on a bed in a separate building, as Mukuro still stayed in the original one they used before. She was slowly waking up as her eyes were slowly opening up. Upon fully opening, she saw and felt something that was in one of her hands. It was what appeared to be something on her palm.

"Huh? What's this?" Komaru groggily said as she wiped her eyes. She yawned and tried to become more awake, as she now sat upright on the bed she was in, and saw a card was on her hands. "Did I have this on me? Was this in the pajamas?"

Komaru looked around the room, wondering if anyone or anything came by and dropped it to her, while she was asleep. Before she could look at the card more, she heard someone knocking on her door. Komaru placed the card under the pillow she was sleeping and went up to it, and saw that Shirokuma was outside, holding a laundry basket. On the laundry basket was what appeared to be a city map.

"Good morning Komaru! How are you?" Shirokuma asked in a friendly tone, as he walked nearby the girl and placed the basket down. "How are you today?"

"I could be better, but I guess I'm okay at the moment," Komaru answered back. "Thanks for letting me have this new place to myself Shirokuma,"

"It's no problem at all," Shirokuma answered warmly back. "But I am kind of worried about you Komaru. You and Mukuro are such good friends, but lately… you two are fighting a lot more,"

Komaru had a frown appear on her face, not sure what to say back to that. She even wondered herself if she and Mukuro were ever friends. Shirokuma realizing he made her feel awkward, began to flail his arms in a comical panicky fashion.

"I'm sorry Komaru! I didn't mean to make you feel bad!" Shirokuma said apologetically.

"It's not your fault Shirokuma. I'm just… not sure lately with Mukuro and all," Komaru said quietly, feeling mixed emotions. "I don't want to hate her or anything but… it's not been working out well lately,"

"Well hopefully you two make up in the future. Mukuro cares a lot about you in her own way," Shirokuma said while Komaru looked skeptical upon hearing that.

"I don't know. I think she just cares about her mission," Komaru said back. "I don't think she really cares about me as a person,"

"I'm sure she does Komaru," Shirokuma said warmly back while Komaru still felt skeptical about that. "By the way Komaru, I have something for you besides your clothes,"

Shirokuma took the map off the laundry clothes and handed it to Komaru, Komaru looked at it, and saw that it looked similar to the map Mukuro had of the city, except it was one you get from a tourist area to help tourists explore the city.

"Why are you giving me a map Shirokuma?" Komaru asked, wondering why she was given one.

"Well since Mukuro is not with you at the moment, and she had the map for Towa City, I figure I give this to you, just in case." Shirokuma explained. "I went out searching last night around the city, while everyone was asleep and managed to find this map, when I heard you two decided to be without each other. Though I think when you two eventually reunite hopefully, having another and more proper map of Towa City should be helpful,"

"Well I appreciate it Shirokuma. Another map couldn't hurt at all," Komaru said with a smile. "I don't know when or if I'll make up with Mukuro but it is a nice thought.

"I hope you two do make up Komaru. Well anyway, I should go see her and drop off her laundry. I also need to give Mukuro a message. Haiji wants to talk to her about something. See you later Komaru," Shirokuma answered back.

The white robot bear began to walk away as Komaru thought about what he said. Her face still had an unconvinced expression. She had her daily morning routine, and was soon wearing her normal clothes, and had some breakfast. After all of that, she went to the pillow in the room earlier and grabbed the hit list card she placed under there.

"So, this hostage is… a cat?" Komaru said out loud confused. The card she was holding, depicted a black overweight cat with grayish black or blackish gray fur, that wore a circular white cravat like neckband around its neck, that had a small black ribbon wrapped around the cravat neckband. She noted that the card noted its real name as "Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg," which was quite the mouthful and that it's so called demon name was "Nekonekomaru," from the children. "A big cat is one of the hostages?"

Komaru blinked her eyes, staring at the hit list card, wondering more about it, but then shrugged again. A pet stinkbug was a hostage that she and Mukuro rescued here at Towa City, so a pet cat being another hostage wasn't too out there. She then cleared her throat, as she decided to read the description on the hit list card out loud to herself.

"It's cute on the outside but inside it's all slimy and yucky! If you let your guard down and get too close it'll eat you! Lure it out with "Gyoza Food" and burn it to ash with a fire attack. It might look like a cat, but cat food doesn't work, so pick the right food!" Komaru read out loud. She then shuddered as she hoped the poor cat was alright. She then continued to look at the card, and saw it noted a location where the cat was supposedly hanging out at. "Towa Public Hall huh? I should let Mukuro know about it and then we can go after-"

Komaru then stopped talking, as soon as she brought up the soldier girl. Her face felt a mixed expression appear, as she was not on the best terms with her at the moment. She sighed as she thought over what Mukuro said to her yesterday and how they acted towards each other in general. Komaru sighed, the more she thought about it.

"I don't want to see Mukuro right now," Komaru said quietly. "She probably still thinks I'm a burden. But what about this hostage then?"

Komaru looked at the hit list card again. Thoughts began to run through her mind, if she could possibly save this hostage herself and without Mukuro's help.

"Maybe… maybe if I save this hostage by myself, I can prove to her I can handle myself out there and… not be a burden to her," Komaru said to herself. The more she thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her. "Yeah… why not? I can handle myself out there! Plus, with this map, Shirokuma gave me, I can find Towa Public Hall now! Time, to save this cat!"

Komaru grinned with a cheeky smile, as she grabbed her Megaphone Hacking Gun and decided to head out. As she was heading towards the exit of the Resistance Base, she saw Yuta by the entrance, as he was holding the insect cage that held Kameko. He was currently feeding the insect some berries, as he was sitting on the ground with his legs stretched out. Yuta seeing Komaru waved to her.

"Good morning Komaru! Are you heading back out to Towa City today?" Yuta asked with curiosity.

"Yep. I'm heading to a place called Towa Public Hall today. I see you're feeding Kameko right now," Komaru replied. Yuta nodded as he carefully dropped a berry into the stinkbug's cage. The stinkbug went up to the berry and began to slowly enjoy the fruit for itself. "How's being Kameko's caretaker going? And why are you out here?"

"It's alright. I'm glad I can help out in my own way," Yuta answered back. "I'm not really a fighting kind of guy, even if I am in pretty good shape. Kameko hasn't given me any trouble so far, so that's also nice. As for why I'm out here, I just kind of wanted to get some fresh air from my building here underground.

"That's good Yuta. I'm glad that's all working out," Komaru said warmly with a smile. Yuta blushed and looked away, trying to make his blush go away. He then looked back at her, having calmed down.

"Well see you later Komaru," Yuta said. Komaru nodded to him and began walking away before calling out to her. "Wait Komaru! Isn't Mukuro coming with you?"

Komaru turned to face Yuta with an uneasy expression while Yuta just looked confused. She debated what to say to him but then came up with an excuse.

"I'm scoping the place out for Mukuro. I'm going to see her later," Komaru said, as she felt a bit bad for lying to the boy.

"Alright. Well, be safe Komaru and good luck," Yuta said, as both waved to each other, as Komaru began to walk away. As the teenager girl, a small feeling of doubt began to form in her stomach, wondering if this was something she really wanted to do. Komaru then shook her head, as she headed out.

"I can do this," Komaru said as she was now gone from the Resistance Base, and continued on her way, to Towa Public Hall.

* * *

We now see Mukuro sleeping in the same building and room that she usually slept in. She was still in bed, dressed in her black pajamas, as she was still asleep, getting used to the fact that she had the whole bed to herself. Komaru chose to sleep in a different building the previous night, leaving the two to be separated. Mukuro felt conflicted about her doing such an action, but it was what Komaru wanted, and even herself to a degree. The door to her room was knocked on, as Mukuro's eyes slowly awakened, as she got up from the bad and went to open it. She saw Shirokuma outside, holding a laundry basket with her regulat attire, washed up.

"Good morning Mukuro. How are you?" Shirokuma cheerily asked. Mukuro just rolled her eyes at the bear and just grabbed her regular clothes out of the laundry basket, choosing to remain quiet. "It's okay. A lot of people aren't morning people, so if you're tired or anything I understand. Anyway, I have something I need to tell you Mukuro,"

"And what would that be?" Mukuro asked, feeling annoyed at Shirokuma's presence.

"Haiji wants to speak to you today. I don't know about what, but he said as soon as you're available, he wants to speak to you," Shirokuma said. Mukuro had a stoic expression appear on her face, wondering what Haiji wanted to discuss with her about. "Besides that, are you okay Mukuro?"

"Okay about what? I'm not in the best mood at the moment if you have to know," Mukuro asked, wishing the bear would just leave her alone already. "I really just want to groom myself, change into my regular attire, and eat my breakfast already,"

"Are you okay without Komaru?" Shirokuma asked, feeling concerned while Mukuro sent a glare at the bear. "I mean I hope you two become friends again and-"

"Get out," Mukuro said quietly but very seriously, as she glared harder at Shirokuma. The robot bear just sighed and understood that perhaps this wasn't the best time and/or subject to talk about now. Shirokuma left Mukuro to herself as she began to do what she wanted to do, as she was left alone.

* * *

We now rewind a bit earlier as we see a different location. We see a black helicopter bearing the logo of the Future Foundation, approaching Towa City. Inside that helicopter, we see Makoto sitting in the front, as he set the helicopter on auto-pilot. His body was a mix of emotions as he had a feeling this wasn't going to go well at all.

"I hope the others back at base, won't get too mad when they find out I'm gone," Makoto said to himself quietly. "I know I left a note in my room, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to be enough,"

Makoto then sighed, as he looked out in front of him. He saw that out of his window, he was slowly but surely approaching Towa City, as the imagery of the island city was becoming closer and closer. The sky was still red and ominous, as if the despair gods themselves wanted to mark the area with misery and desolation. Makoto looked at his own being, as he saw that his legs were shaking. Even his own body couldn't deny that he felt nervous doing this. But thoughts of Komaru, Mukuro, and the hostages came to him, as he gritted his teeth and looked confident once more.

"I'm not going to back down," Makoto said, as the helicopter was now within the island of Towa City. Makoto looked, to see where the Towa Shrines were, since that was where the child who warned him, to go to. Meanwhile, cameras around the areas spotted Future Foundation's helicopter was flying around, had now noticed the vehicle.

We now see what appears to be Nagito in a surveillance room, looking at the monitors that depicted the helicopter vehicle, with two regular Monokumas, and three Monokuma Kids behind him. One of the Monokumas held what appeared to be a flare gun, and the other held what appeared to be a large sign, that said "This is Towa Shrine," with its claws. Nagito himself was also holding things. In one hand he held what appeared to be a tablet and the other hand he held a picture of what looked like Komaru. Nagito faced the Monokuma Kids, now. He gave one the tablet he was holding, and another one the picture of Komaru he was holding.

"I need you three to do something for me. That thing being to grant a certain someone who might be looking for the relative of Ms. Monaca's special guest, these items today," Nagito said with a smirk as he had a feeling, his luck would hopefully give him what he wanted later today. He took out another picture, depicting what appeared to be Mukuro and showed it to them, to show who they needed to look out for. The Monokuma Kids then nodded to him, as they walked off. "Now let's see if the relative of one filled with hope, will be saved by one connected to the true Ultimate Despair,"

Nagito then turned to face the two Monokumas left in the room as he smirked with confidence.

"As for us, Ms. Monaca's special guest has arrived. The one that has the same talent as me," Nagito said with a smile, feeling pleased at such a presence was now within the city. "Let's help welcome that guest, shall we?"

The two robot Monokumas nodded to Nagito, as he began to walk away from the surveillance room with the two Monokumas following after him.

* * *

Komaru was now standing in front of Towa Public Hall. She looked at her new map, as she was standing in front of a town hall like building that seemed abandoned as no one or anything seemed to be around at the moment. Nearby was a large sign, stating that this place was indeed Towa Public Hall. The sign itself was also covered in dried blood and claw marks, so Komaru seeing such a sight, made her gulp.

"I really hope this cat is alright," Komaru said both with nervousness for herself and concern for the animal. She walked towards the front doors of Towa Public Hall, and slowly opened it. Once it was open enough, she carefully peeked a look into the building to see if there was anyone or anything inside. All she saw was more dried blood on the floors, claw marks, and stuff strewn about. She entered the building, while on a higher building nearby, a certain someone was watching her do all of this, with a pair of pink binoculars. It was Kotoko, as the Fighter of the Warriors of Hope, put away her binoculars and smirked from what she saw.

"Heheheh. That demon fell for the bait! Time to make sure I got you for sure, for my planned motivation for you later," Kotoko said mischievously as she took out what appeared to be a remote control with a pink button that had a music symbol above it. She pressed it, and then began to walk away to a door that was on the roof, heading towards Towa Public Hall herself.

Komaru was now in the building, looking around as she felt tension build up within her. A part of her really wanted Mukuro to be here, and another part of her was still determined to save the hostage.

"Alright. Time to start searching. I wish it meow or something, so this be easier," Komaru whined to herself. Just as she said those words, a loud and constant meowing was heard, causing her to flail her arms and have a surprised expression on her face. She calmed down and took deep breaths, as she looked around, trying to see where the sound of the meowing was coming from. "Speak of the cat! Well time to save him,"

Komaru began to walk around, as she looked for the source of the hearing. After some time, she found herself in front of a door, where the meowing was the loudest. Komaru grinned, feeling this went surprisingly really well.

"Oh man. Mukuro is going to be so happy and proud of me!" Komaru said with joy, as she felt so excited. "Here kitty! I'm ready to save you!"

Komaru opened the door and walked into the room. It was an empty office devoid of any living beings, which just confused her. What she saw on the large wooden desk in the room, caught her attention, as she walked up to it. A large boombox was playing sounds of a cat meowing. Komaru just stared blankly at the boombox, not sure how to feel.

"So, it was never a cat meowing… it was just a boombox playing cat sounds?" Komaru said with confusion as she pressed stop on the boombox. The device stopped the meowing sounds, as Komaru was just left with awkward and eerie silence. "I don't get it. Well I should head back to the Resistance Base and-"

Komaru was cut off as she felt her right arm in pain, as something suddenly clamped on it. She quickly looked and saw what appeared to be fake dentures chomping onto it. Using her left hands, she removed the fake dentures, and let them fall to the ground, as she was very concerned now. Her head began to feel drowsy, as she fell to the ground, confused and scared from what just happened.

"I got you! How do you like my denture doused in a sleeping and paralyzing agent?" Kotoko cheered, as the pink haired child, walked in front of Komaru, who was trying hard to stay awake and to stand up, but just couldn't. Kotoko smirked with mischievousness, seeing Komaru like this. Kotoko was wielding some sort of big pink gun, with a purple handle, and had what appeared to be fake dentures on the front. "If you're wondering what this useful tool is, it's my Denture Launcher! Pretty sweet machine, isn't it? The smooth shaft, the fresh pink color, and the brutal yet hypnotizing shine!"

Komaru could barely say anything as she still struggled to stay awake and to even get up. Kotoko just giggled in delight from what she was seeing.

"Kyaha! It's just so adorbs, I can't stand it!" Kotoko boasted. The girl then calmed herself down for what she was about to say next. "Since you're such a good listener, why don't I tell you a story? My dad was a dentist. He was also always cheating on my mother with his assistant. He also liked to role play as a brain surgeon as well,"

Kotoko's voice and face then became serious while Komaru could only listen and felt mixed emotions, from everything that was happening to her.

"Yes… a great daddy indeed… messing around with his business and making me earn him money instead… a perfect papa I can kill over and over again and it still wouldn't be enough," Kotoko said darkly, feeling anger come to her. "Here's a word of advice. Being adorbs isn't always a good thing. You're a cute girl for a demon I'll admit. But terrible things happen to cute girls. If you're adorable, you have to protect yourself, all on your own,"

Kotoko then snapped her fingers, as a Monokuma wearing what appeared to be a train conductor hat appeared behind her, while Komaru struggled even more, trying to move or do anything.

"If you can't, you have to take whatever they give you. It's a shitty rule, but I didn't make it. The adults did and now… you better be prepared for that life," Kotoko said with a smirk, as the Monokuma she summoned picked up Komaru. Kotoko walked away with the Monokuma carrying Komaru, walking after the Warrior of Hope. As this happened, Komaru could only muster one word with her remaining strength before passing out completely.

"Mukuro…"

After Kotoko, and the Monokuma holding Komaru were gone from the area, three Monokuma Kids showed up and waited now in front of the public hall. One was holding a tablet, one was holding a picture of Komaru, and the last one held nothing. The three waited in front, waiting for the girl that Nagito told them to wait for.

* * *

We now see Makoto still in the helicopter, as he was flying around, still trying to find Towa Shrines. A look of frustration was on his face, as he wasn't able to find Towa Shrines yet.

"I need to find that place. That's where the green haired kid said I had to go, to make sure none of the remaining hostages would be hurt," Makoto spoke to himself, feeling frustrated with himself he couldn't find it yet. Suddenly something caught his attention, as a flare shot up in the sky, forward of him. "What in the world?"

Makoto looked toward where the flare was shot. He saw a large traditional Japanese like shrine area, with red gates statues, and temples in the area. Makoto saw two Monokumas around where the flare was shot. One held a flare gun and the other Monokuma was holding a large sign that said that this was Towa Shrines.

"Assuming those Monokuma aren't trying to trick me, that has to be Towa Shrines," Makoto said, to himself. He slowly had the helicopter approach the shrines from above. Once in position, he slowly landed the helicopter and stopped the vehicle. He stood out and carefully approached the two Monokumas. "So if this is the right place, where's the kid who asked for me here?"

"I'm here on her behalf," said an unfamiliar voice to him, that Makoto heard. He turned around to see who the voice was. As soon as he saw the person, Makoto looked at him for a bit. Something about him looked familiar. Then his eyes widened as he realized where he recognized this person

"You're one of the Ultimate Despairs!" Makoto shouted in surprise, as the person just smirked. That person being Nagito, as he smiled from Makoto's acknowledgement. "Future Foundation told me and the rest of my class about you and your other members!"

"That is correct, Makoto Naegi," Nagito said calmly. "And we have much to discuss,"

* * *

Haiji and Mukuro were now in the meeting room, as the Resistance leader and the soldier girl were sitting across from each other. Mukuro was now in her regular attire and not her pajamas at the moment, along with her weapons belt and her black drawstring backpack.

"So Shirokuma said you wished to speak with me," Mukuro said, wondering what this was about. "So speak,"

"You and Komaru have been saving people and bringing them to the Resistance Base," Haiji noted, as Mukuro nodded to him in confirmation. "Kanon and Yukimura go out and get resources for the Resistance Base. Yuta is… taking care of a stinkbug for some reason, and Taichi is trying to see if he can do anything with his laptop,"

"Okay… and why are you bringing this up with me?" Mukuro asked, still wondering where this conversation was going.

"Well basically… I was wondering about the two survivors you and Komaru brought yesterday," Haiji asked, as Mukuro was now seeing where this was going. "So far they haven't done anything yet which is fine but I was wondering-"

"No. Ayaka and Fujiko don't have to do anything if they don't want too. Especially if you're not forcing others besides the people, I bring in to do nothing," Mukuro answered, sounding annoyed. "Personally, I rather Kanon and Yukimura not go out and gather resources because I don't want them to get hurt or worse,"

"Fair enough. I figure I just ask. Maybe Ayaka and Fujiko can't and shouldn't be forced to contribute," Haiji said with a sigh. "The thing with Kanon and Yukimura is, they've proven themselves capable and don't mind gathering resources for the Resistance Base. You and Komaru go out together to save people, don't you?"

"You act like I want Komaru to go out with me," Mukuro said, sounding a bit aggressive. "I rather she not go out with me at all too, for her safety!"

"Well that's something you and her need to work out." Haiji said while Mukuro looked annoyed at him still. Mukuro felt like being more aggressive towards Haiji but stilled her tongue as she knew that if he was in charge of the Resistance Base, he was someone she would still have to deal with for the time being. She could deal with him and her side objective from Munakata as soon as she got all the hostages, she intended to save out of Towa City. "Anyway, that's all I wanted to discuss."

"Then I'm done here," Mukuro said, as she left the meeting room and the building she was in. She sighed as she decided in her mind, to head out to Towa City, seeing if she could find any more of the hostages, or find any information that would lead to that. But before doing so, she eyed the housing structure that Komaru was staying at. She debated whether to go check on Komaru or not before heading out to exploring the city.

"I guess… seeing how she is, before I head off to Towa City, should be alright," Mukuro told herself. She walked over to the building where Komaru was staying at and knocked on the door. "Hey Komaru. I'm heading out to Towa City. Don't go out alright?"

Mukuro noticed that there was a lack of a response, and just sighed. She wondered if the other girl even heard her, as she might have still been asleep. So, she knocked on the door harder to see if there be any response.

"Komaru? Can you hear me?" Mukuro said louder as she decided to go inside, even though a part of her really didn't want to. She went into the building structure and noticed that Komaru wasn't around in any of the rooms. "What in the world? Where are you?"

Mukuro stepped outside and looked around the area. All she saw was mostly apathetic adults around at the moment. She then saw Yuta was who feeding Kameko and walked up to the boy.

"Hey Yuta. Have you seen Komaru?" Mukuro asked, as the teenager looked at her. "I looked around this area, but I haven't seen her at all,"

"Huh? I thought Komaru said she was scoping out a place for you?" Yuta said, which caused Mukuro to be confused. "She said she was scoping out a place called Towa Public Hall,"

Mukuro now was trying hard to keep her cool, as she looked away from Yuta, as she took a couple of deep breaths, and had one of her hands clenched into a fist with gritted teeth. Yuta just looked confused as he was busy feeding Kameko. Mukuro eventually turned back to face Yuta with a stoic expression, that bordered on frustration.

"Well I'm going to go see Komaru now. See you later Yuta," Mukuro said as Yuta merely nodded, choosing to stay quiet, as he noticed that Mukuro was not in the best mood right now. Mukuro now walked away, heading out of the Resistance Base, as she decided to look for Komaru.

"I swear, once I find her, I'm going to give her the biggest lecture this city, will have ever seen," Mukuro grumbled under her breath, feeling really annoyed. She took out her map of the city and looked at where Towa Public Hall. She began to pick up the pace, as she grumbled more under her breath. "You better be safe as well,"

Mukuro ran and ran, as she eventually stood in front of Towa Public Hall, and saw a concerning sight. She saw three Monokuma Kids in front of the building. Two of them were holding peculiar things. One was holding a tablet that had a moving dot on it, while the other had a picture of Komaru. Mukuro walked up to them, looking confused at them. The one that wasn't holding anything was both pointing at the picture of Komaru, and at the tablet. Mukuro getting a closer look at the tablet, saw that the tablet depicted a map and a red dot. The red dot was nearby an area called "Towa Monorail Station," as it remained stationary there.

"Is that where Komaru is?" Mukuro asked as she looked at the Monokuma Kids, wondering if that what they were trying to tell her. They nodded to her in response, answering her question. "Well if that's the case, why are you three telling me this?"

The Monokuma Kids were silent, as they just looked at her still. Mukuro just sighed but decided to leave them.

"Whatever. Finding Komaru and making sure she's safe, is more important right now," Mukuro said as she ran off. She soon arrived at the Towa Monorail Station and saw the monorail on the tracks. "Komaru is probably inside that monorail,"

Just as she said those words, the monorail began to move. Mukuro immediately began to run, as she couldn't afford to let it get away. She then leaped and slammed her feet into one of the passenger windows, on the monorail car, all the way in the back, shattering the glass and landing inside of the cart. Once inside the monorail, she saw many Monokumas ahead of her, guarding the door to the next cart. Mukuro glared at them, as she took out both her knives.

"Don't get in my way!" Mukuro shouted, as she charged at them with her knives drawn.

* * *

Komaru slowly felt her eyes awakening, as she found herself slowly awaking. As soon as her eyes were fully open, she took noticed of the new environment and situation she was in. Her eyes widened from what she was seeing. She was in what appeared to be a large rectangular fancy pink themed room, with pink flooring, pink walls, brown ceilings, fancy golden chandeliers and red couches. At the end of the rectangular room in front of her, were what appeared to a metal door that would lead elsewhere.

She herself was attached to a red coffin like object, with pink restraints on her hands and feet, preventing her from moving. The coffin was chained into the middle of the air by four separate metal chains. Komaru then noticed that out of the coffin itself, had multiple black and yellow extendable metal cables with white gloved hands attached at their ends. Nearby to the right of her, she noticed two pink metal doors and finally in front of her, was a certain someone she recognized, that was Kotoko. The Warrior of Hope was holding what appeared to be controller device that was colored pink and white.

"Huh!? What is all of this!?" Komaru said both confused and feeling a bit nervous. Kotoko just smirked to her in response.

"Oh this? All of this is going to help you get motivated!" Kotoko teased, while Komaru felt herself get more confused and nervous.

"Motivated? Motivated for what?" Kotoko asked, even wondering if that was something she wanted to know. Kotoko just giggled which caused Komaru to sweat in fear.

"See those gloves around you? Let's just say they're going to be very… thorough with you, by the time they're done," Kotoko explained, as Komaru's face freaked out in fear.

" **WAIT, WHAT!?** " Komaru screamed, as that was something, she did not want to happen to her.

"You're going to be slowly but surely motivated once I activate this machine," Kotoko taunted while Komaru continued to freak out.

"Stop it! Why are you doing this!?" Komaru pleaded. Kotoko's facial expression then turned serious and even a bit sad, as she looked back at the teenager.

"That's what I always asked. I asked that many times," Kotoko said emotionally, before she perked her own being back up. "The answer was always, because I'm cute! Just for that… this is just payback, for what happened to me. I'm not a bad girl! After all, if you think this is wrong, then what the adults did to me, is wrong too, right?"

Kotoko stopped to catch her breath, while Komaru's face was nervous beyond belief.

"Anyway, I think I wasted enough time. Let's begin. After all, we're on a train, and we'll be making it to our destination soon. I wanted to get you motivated before then," Kotoko said.

"We're on a train?" Komaru asked, hearing that from the younger girl. "And please, don't begin any motivation!"

"Yep! We're on a train! To be specific, the train car, right before the conductor's car. Behind you, is the room where one of the adorable Monokumas, are operating this train," Kotoko replied. "And as for your motivation, it's time to begin,"

Komaru closed her eyes, in fear from what was about to happen. Kotoko with eagerness pressed the button and… nothing happened. This confused the younger girl as she began to press it again. Nothing happened still. Komaru opened her eyes, to see Kotoko just pressing the button on her remote controller repeatedly, yet nothing was happening.

"What is wrong with this piece of junk!?" Kotoko whined with annoyance, as she grew increasingly frustrated. After a bit of trying to press the button, Kotoko looked at the back of the remote controller. She opened a slot on the back and took out the batteries. "Guess you got lucky for a bit longer! I'll have to recharge these batteries!"

Kotoko walked over to a wall socket nearby and placed a charger for rechargeable batteries into it. She then placed the rechargeable batteries into it. Komaru sighed with relief, while Kotoko looked annoyed. A red light appeared on the charger, to indicate it was in the process of charging the batteries.

"Don't think you're off the hook! This charger I got, works really fast! The batteries will soon be recharged and then you're going to get motivated!" Kotoko threatened, while Komaru just prayed in her heart, that she be saved from this situation somehow, before that happened. Komaru just tried to struggle to break free from her situation, while Kotoko just looked at the battery recharger, hoping it recharge as fast as possible.

* * *

We now reconvene with Makoto and Nagito as the two looked at each other, in Towa Shrines. Silence enveloped the area, as the Ultimate Lucky Student of Class 78 and another of the same talent, looked at each other. Makoto decided to break the silence, as he began to question Nagito.

"You're Nagito Komaeda. One of the students of Class 77." Makoto said quietly, as Nagito smirked at him. "One of the Remnants of Despair, working for Junko Enoshima,"

"And you're Makoto Naegi. One of the students of Class 78. Your talent being that of the Ultimate Lucky Student," Nagito responded calmly. Makoto's eyes lit up from a bit of fear, from hearing that.

"Wait… how do you know about me?" Makoto asked, with his eyes widening. Nagito simply laughed quietly in response from what he heard.

"Who doesn't know about you? You, one of the special individuals who foiled the plans of Junko Enoshima, at Hope's Peak Academy?" Nagito said calmly. "Truly marvelous you are,"

"Are you… complimenting me?" Makoto asked, feeling even more confused, while Nagito just smirked. "Well this isn't about me. This is about putting a stop to all this. To start… do you know where Junko is?"

"I don't. She is a person who is constantly on the move. I haven't the faintest idea, where she is," Nagito simply said back. "I don't care for where she is, or what she does for the most part,"

"Huh? Why not? Don't you work for her?" Makoto asked, feeling confused.

"Who can say?" Nagito said without a care in the world, while Makoto felt concerned by Nagito's responses, not sure what to make of the other teen. "What about you, Makoto Naegi? Where does your allegiance lie?"

"My allegiance? What? I just want the world to go back to normal and to have hope again," Makoto answered calmly. Nagito smiled from what he heard, pleased by the words spoken from Makoto.

"Is that so? Well I hope you can keep it up then," Nagito said. "But enough about that. Do you wish to meet the one who invited you here?"

"You mean… the green haired kid who promised that none of the remaining hostages be hurt, if I came here myself, right?" Makoto asked. Nagito simply nodded to Makoto. "Then yes, please take me to her! I need to ensure the remaining hostages that are being held here, are safe!"

"Very well," Nagito said, as he took out what appeared to be a tranquilizer gun. Makoto's eyes widened and before he could react or say anything, Nagito shot a tranquilizer at Makoto, darting the boy directly at his neck. Makoto slowly but surely collapsed, as his whole body went to sleep. Nagito then snapped his fingers, as he ordered the two Monokumas who were around, to take Makoto's unconscious body elsewhere. Once the Monokumas carrying Makoto were gone, Nagito took out a tablet, he had on his being, and began to look upon it.

"Time to see how Miss Protagonist is doing…"

* * *

Kotoko was staring at the battery charger, looking annoyed as it was still charging. Komaru was in an awkward position, as she was still stuck in the machine, and still struggling to free herself. Kotoko was just tempted to just find different batteries at this point, till the red light on the battery charger turned green, showing that the rechargeable batteries put in, were fully recharged.

"Well it looks like you're finally going to get motivated!" Kotoko said with a mischievous tone while Komaru looked like she was sweating under the sun directly. "Any last words?"

" **SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE ME!** " Komaru yelled out, in extreme fear, as she closed her eyes. Kotoko smirked viciously as she was about to press a button till she and Komaru heard what sounded like a metal door being slammed open. Kotoko turned around, while Komaru opened her eyes in shock and surprise. It was Mukuro, and she was holding both of her knives. Mukuro upon seeing Komaru trapped in the device she was in, glared intensely at Kotoko, while the Warrior of Hope felt intimidated now.

"Get away from her!" Mukuro shouted as she charged at Kotoko, feeling disgust by seeing how Komaru was being held captive. Kotoko dropped her remote controller and immediately took out her Denture Launcher. With panic, she began to fire at the soldier girl, multiple dentures, but Mukuro slashed at each one, cutting the dentures in half cleanly, as she still ran at Kotoko. Once right beside her, she slashed Kotoko's Denture Launcher, and destroyed the weapon.

"No, no, no! That is so not adorbs!" Kotoko said in a panicky state. Kotoko then ran behind the coffin like device Komaru was and pounded on a door that led to the train conductor's car in the monorail. "Hey! Stop this demon! Stop her!"

The door opened and a Monokuma wearing a train conductor hat came out. It ran towards Mukuro with claws, ready to attack her. Mukuro merely used her knifes to take out the Monokuma easily, causing Kotoko to freak out. Komaru seeing this then realized something.

"Wait. If that Monokuma was piloting the train… does that mean no one is piloting it now?" Komaru said. Kotoko's face freaked out from the realization, as she just realized what she had done. Before anyone could say or do anything in response, the monorail soon crashed hard, knocking everyone out.

After a bit of time, Komaru slowly found her eyes awakening. She saw Mukuro was carefully cutting off the restraints on her hands and feet with one of her knives. Komaru soon found herself free of the device she was attached too, and breathing hard, as she found herself on the ground now.

"Are you alright?" Mukuro asked seriously, as the soldier girl was looking at Komaru, in a calm state now. Komaru slowly found her footing, as she slowly stood up.

"I thought… you wouldn't come… I mean after all our fighting we had with each other," Komaru said quietly, as tears threatened to leak from her eyes.

"It doesn't matter now. I'm just here to save you, and everyone else. Also that kid got away and-" but before Mukuro could continue talking, Komaru ran towards the older teen, and began to cry into her shoulder, catching her off guard, as Mukuro's eyes widened from surprise.

"Waaah! Mukuro, I was so scared!" Komaru cried out, as Mukuro felt surprised from what was happening.

"Komaru… this isn't necessary," Mukuro spoke softly, as she wanted the younger teen off her, while Komaru continued to cry into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry… I'm so sorry," Komaru sobbed out as tears continued to flow from her eyes. "I… I did things I shouldn't have to you. I said such horrible things to you, like you not having any friends! I'm sorry! I'm truly sorry Mukuro!"

Mukuro was silent and stunned, as Komaru continued to cry into her shoulder, as it had been an extremely long time a situation like this had occurred to her. Where someone would seek comfort from her like this. Mukuro eventually found herself responding quietly.

"I… I don't deserve that apology," Mukuro spoke quietly. Komaru looked at Mukuro, feeling both confused and sad by what she heard.

"Huh? Why not?" Komaru said with sobs in her voice still present.

"Because I'm not exactly a shining beacon of morality," Mukuro spoke softly. "I've done a lot of things… in the past you wouldn't approve of and I feel I haven't earned such a thing from you yet,"

"Everyone's done things they look back on, and think they maybe shouldn't have done," Komaru said with tears crying still. "But you acknowledge that, and try to move on and make up for that,"

Komaru then found herself hugging Mukuro for support, which continued to silence Mukuro, as the soldier girl felt unsure of what to say or do. They stayed like this for a while, till Komaru's tears finally dried up, and she slowly moved herself off of Mukuro.

"Are… are you alright now Komaru?" Mukuro said concerned, as Komaru nodded to her slowly.

"Yeah. I feel better now," Komaru said, as she now smiled softly. "Thank you Mukuro,"

"I… I appreciate it Komaru," Mukuro said quietly back. "I'm sorry myself for how I might have acted towards you. Let's try to start over from here,"

"I can agree with that," Komaru said warmly, as a small smile formed on the younger teen. Both now looked around, as they noticed, that they were the only ones on their current train car. "Guess she must have run off,"

"Forget about her. We need to get out of here," Mukuro said, as she eyed the two doors nearby the coffin, that weren't opened at all. "Help me get this open Komaru, and we'll get out."

Both teenager girls approached the doors and slowly pulled them aside. However, the sight that greeted them, was both familiar and disturbing, as both Mukuro and Komaru had frustrated expressions appear on their faces. It was another arena, that was just like the other ones, Masaru and Jataro were fought in. It had cheering Monokuma Kids in the audience, a terrace where Kotoko stood with an entrance behind her, and a metal fence like cage surrounding the arena. The cage separated the audience of Monokuma Kids, that were present again, yelling in excitement.

One major difference that separated this arena from the previous ones, was due to the damage from the train crash, some pipes in the ceiling of the roof leaked water into certain parts of the arena. Large pools of water formed in certain parts of the arena, and some remained dry. In front of Komaru and Mukuro was a metal gate that was open, waiting for the two teenage girls to enter.

"Here we go again… another fight between us and one of the Warriors of Hope," Mukuro mumbled, feeling annoyed.

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Komaru said, as Mukuro just sighed and nodded. Both teenager girls walked into the arena, as the metal gate behind them fell, locking the two into it. Kotoko seeing this, finally decided to speak to them.

"Well thanks to you two, my plans today got wrecked," Kotoko said with a fake smile, as she sounded not mad. "I feel furiously angry. You two have seriously made me mad,"

"Mad? But you don't look mad?" Komaru commented, as Kotoko's face was still acting as if everything was still peachy.

"I'm just acting. Inside my heart, I can't help but feel really unlucky," Kotoko said in a pleasant tone still. She then pointed to Komaru, causing the teen to feel nervous. "You really should have let me motivate you! You could have felt so good, your mind would have been blown! You'd become so twisted,"

"I don't want that to happen!" Komaru exclaimed feeling nervous, while Mukuro gave a disgusted glare at Kotoko.

"Oh? You're going to abandon the responsibility of being adorbs? That's not fair! Being adorbs means being an object of jealousy, being called an ugly bitch, or to die!" Kotoko whined. Her face then turned serious, as she also began to speak in a serious manner. "If that doesn't happen… then being adorbs isn't worth it,"

"You have some undue resentment, don't you?" Mukuro questioned, while Kotoko had a laugh from hearing that.

"Undue resentment? No, no, no! This is the work of Demons. All I wanted was to be the same as everyone else. A normal kid who didn't stand out." Kotoko said sweetly, before switching back to her serious mode. "But she used me to get 'her' dream… even if it meant going to market with me… well the guys who wanted that are to blame too. Business with a mother and daughter set!? How perverted can adults be!"

Komaru and Mukuro was starting to see what had happened to Kotoko in the past, as the girl continued to speak.

"Seriously, I'm so ashamed of myself, for actually listening to those ugly Demons in the past. But everything's changed now! As someone who knows what makes adults happy, I also know the things they don't want!" Kotoko boasted. "Using what I've learned, I can take down the Demons, and make them suffer as much as I did,"

"But not all adults are like that. There are good people out there who-" but Komaru was interrupted when Kotoko went ballistic.

"Then why didn't anyone save me!? If the world is so good, then why didn't anyone help me!" Kotoko yelled with rage, as her face was full of anger. Kotoko then calmed herself as she took a couple of deep breaths, and then formed a smile on her face. "Welp, doesn't matter. What I said just now, isn't how I really feel. That was acting. Just leave it to the former child acting genius, and a perfect performance is easy as cake!"

"Hmph," was all Mukuro sounded out, as she just glared at the child. "Enough about your sob story. Komaru and I are going to leave this place, through that exit behind you. We have better things to do, then fight you,"

"Oh? Is that so?" Kotoko teased, feeling confident now. "I don't think so. In fact, I have the motivation for you two to stick around here,"

"And what motivation is that?" Mukuro asked, as she was getting more and more irritated by this child. Kotoko smirked with mischievousness as she snapped her left hand. A Monokuma Kid soon walked in from the exit behind Kotoko, holding what appeared to be a large cat cage. Komaru's eyes widened from what she saw, while Mukuro gritted her teeth.

"That's right! I got a cat demon in this cage!" Kottoko taunted, as the cat in the cage just looked really annoyed at Kotoko. Komaru in particular had wide eyes, as it resembled the cat she saw in the card from before.

"That's the cat hostage we have to save Mukuro!" Komaru pointed out, as Mukuro nodded.

"Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg," Mukuro said out loud, as she knew that was Celeste's pet cat. "Just like how Kameko was a hostage and close to one of my classmates, this cat is also a hostage to another one of them,"

"We'll save you kitty cat!" Komaru yelled out, while the cat still looked irritated in general, within its cage. Mukuro then looked towards Kotoko, who was now smirking at the teens.

"So just like Masaru and Jataro, we're going to have to defeat you, huh?" Mukuro asked, while Kotoko just laughed at what she heard. "Why not just hand over your hostage peacefully, so we can all just get on with our lives?"

"No way! Unlike Masaru and Jataro, I'm not going to lose to you two," Kotoko boasted. "Plus, I've made it perfectly clear, I don't like you two, so a chance to get rid of more demons is a chance I'm not going to pass up."

"Please don't do this," Komaru pleaded, as while she felt animosity towards the child, she still didn't want to fight. "We're not evil people, nor is everyone evil. People can be good, nice, gentle, and-"

Kotoko's eyes immediately widened upon hearing a peculiar word, spoken by Komaru. Her eyes immediately began to water as she began to hold herself, while both Komaru and Mukuro looked confused.

"Gentle!? Please stop with… the gentle!?" Kotoko sobbed out as she began to shake, as she tried to calm herself down, as she looked more emotional now, compared to before. "When they're… gentle… I get all scared! No! I don't want gentle… I don't! Anything but gentle! Please stop with the gentle!"

"What… what happened to her?" Komaru said with a horrified expression on her face, as what she was seeing, was making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"This… doesn't look like acting," Mukuro said quietly, as Kotoko continued to hold herself, and kept sobbing.

" **NO!** I don't want gentle! I don't want more gentle!" Kotoko cried out hysterically as she continued to sob. Having had enough, she stomped the ground where she was standing and looked angrily at the two teenagers in the arena. She snapped her left hand, and soon a Monokuma Kid showed up behind her, holding what appeared to be the same kind of portable controller device with straps, that both Masaru and Jataro used in the past. She quickly put the straps on as she stared hard at the two.

" **DON'T EVER SAY GENTLE! I BEG YOU! ANYTHING BUT GENTLE! DON'T SAY YOU'LL BE GENTLE! I RATHER BE KILLED INSTEAD!** "" Kotoko yelled out as she pressed the button on her controller. Soon glass shattering could be heard, as a giant mech robot soon charged and flew in through a now broken window. The robot soon descended into the arena. It had a red helmet reminiscent of a knight and had red knight like armor on it's being. On its chest was an area with a dark red chest plate with a yellow symbol representing Kotoko's position as the Warrior of Hope's fighter, that was redder compared to rest of the knight armor, on its whole body. It had two jet thrusters below it, allowing it to levitate above ground filled with water. Finally, it wielded a large red knight axe, with a yellow handle. Kotoko finally snapped herself out of her sadness, as she looked furiously at the two. "Highlander the Great! My Fighter Robot is going to kill you two!"

"Get ready Komaru!" Mukuro said out loud, as she took a combat stance with her weapons, while Komaru nodded and did the same with her Megaphone Hacking Gun.

"When all this Demon hunting is done, I'm going to buy a stork so Monaca and I can have a kid!" Kotoko shouted out, as she had her fighter robot slowly approach the two. The two immediately dodge rolled out of the way, as Highlander the Great swung it's axe horizontally, missing the two. "I can't lose… I won't lose!"

"What do we do Mukuro? I don't see any weak points on this robot yet," Komaru whispered to Mukuro, as the two teenagers kept their distance from the fighter robot.

"We keep on the lookout for what we can and can't do against this machine," Mukuro whispered back as she looked at the machine, trying to find any discernable weak points on it, if at all.

"I'll chop you two to pieces that I'll feed to this fat cat, when this is over!" Kotoko yelled out, as she had her mech approach the two again. Highlander the Great was directly in front of Komaru, as it raised its axe and was ready to slam it down. Komaru jumped out of the way, as it barely missed hitting her and the axe got stuck into the ground, with a large splash. The Fighter Robot struggled to pull it out, as the axe was stuck hard, while Kotoko looked angry. "Grrr! Get out you Monokumas and get them, while I get this axe out!"

Three regular Monokumas soon appeared from the exit behind Kotoko, and leaped into the arena, as they had their claws out, splashing into the arena, while Kotoko looked frustrated. Hearing and seeing the splash the Monokumas made, had both Komaru and Mukuro's eyes light up in realization for an idea.

"Mukuro, I got an idea!" Komaru shouted out as she switched to her Megaphone Hacking Gun to use paralyze bullets. "Time for some electricity!"

"Just make sure we're both standing somewhere dry, for both our sakes!" Mukuro shouted back, as the soldier leaped to a part of the arena that was dry. She took out her handguns and took out two of the three Monokumas with bullets shot out. Komaru nodded to her and went to one of the parts of the arena, that wasn't within the water. Komaru quickly smirked as she looked towards the third Monokuma that was still on the arena, making its way towards them. Noticing that Kotoko's robot was still trying to pull its axe out of the ground was on a watery part of the arena, and that the remaining Monokuma robot was running on a watery part of the arena, she aimed her Megaphone Hacking Gun at the Monokuma.

"Paralyze!" Komaru shouted out, as she shot out a yellow electromagnetic wave bullet towards the Monokuma. After making direct contact, the Monokuma short circuited and blew up, and the electricity spread to Highlander the Great, shocking the red robot. This caused the dark red chest plate on the robot to pop out like a hatch, and expose a black and white chest plate underneath. The same one where Masaru and Jataro's mechs, protected their robotsweak spots. Kotoko seeing this, panicked from what she saw.

"Oh no, on no, oh no!" Kotoko panicked, as she flailed her arms around with a nervous expression. She began to shake her controller more violently, as if in some vain attempt to make her robot manage to pull out her axe faster.

"You know what to do Komaru!" Mukuro shouted out, as Komaru switched to her Megaphone Hacking Gun's break bullets and began to fire multiple of them at the black and white chest plate, which soon formed cracks from the attacks. Eventually the dark red chest plate popped back over the white and black one, and it finally got it's axe out of the ground. Komaru and Mukuro then moved themselves to parts of the arena that were filled with water on the ground as, Kotoko glared at the two teenagers.

"You two want to be gentle with me!?" Kotoko shouted out angrily, as Highlander the Great approached the two again. The Fighter Robot spun it's axe horizontally, hoping to slice at either Komaru or Mukuro but the two moved out of the attack. "I'll kill you both! **I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!** "

Kotoko eyed Mukuro, and had her robot approach the soldier girl. Raising its axe, it prepared to strike down where she was, ready to slice her in half from above. Mukuro immediately dodge rolled out of the way as it missed and stuck it's ace onto the ground. Kotoko grew frustrated with herself, that this had just happened again, but quickly smirked.

"Unlike the last batch of Monokumas, these ones you two lame demons can't shock I bet! Come out, Guard Monokumas!" Kotoko shouted, as three Guard Monokumas soon showed up, each holding their riot shields. "Get them and give me time to get Highlander's axe out of the ground!"

"I don't think so!" Komaru yelled out as she had her Megaphone Hacking Gun, switch to using its knockback bullets. She fired knockback bullets at the Guard Monokumas, knocking them off guard and causing them to drop their riot shields. Mukuro fired off more handgun rounds, as she destroyed two of the Guard Monokumas, and moved herself to a dry area, while Kotoko grinded her teeth in frustration. "I'm going to shock the last one Mukuro!"

"Go for it Komaru!" Mukuro shouted out, as Komaru soon moved herself to a dry part of the arena. She fired off a paralyze bullet at the last Guard Monokuma on the stage, causing it to short circuit into an explosion, and once again the electricity travelled to Highlander the Great, causing it to get shocked and for its red chest plate to pop off again, revealing the white and black chest plate. Komaru began to fire more break bullets at it, while Kotoko furiously tried to get her mech to raise it's axe as soon as possible. It soon finally did, but just as Komaru broke the white and black chest plate, exposing the pink core of the machine. Highlander's dark red chest plate went over the core, while Kotoko looked like she was ready to break her remote controller.

"That megaphone gun thing is totally cheating! You can't use it! It's against the rules!" Kotoko whined with both frustration and annoyance. Kotoko decided to try something new, as she had her Fighter Robot hold its axe in a horizontal position. It then charged forward at Komaru while the girl froze from fear, as it came fast at her. Mukuro quickly ran fast and tackled Komaru out of the way, as Highlander the Great rammed into the fence, and stunned itself from its attack.

"Well how was I supposed to know that rule? You guys came up with them!" Komaru whined back, as she and Mukuro picked themselves off the wet floor.

"You sure have gotten vocal," Mukuro said to Komaru, while the younger teen had a cheeky smile from hearing that. "Compared to before at least,"

"Well thanks for the save Mukuro," Komaru said, while Kotoko looked annoyed at the two. Komaru then turned her attention to the younger teen. "Please give up and just give us Grand Bois!"

"No, no, no, no, no! This, cat demon is my hostage! You two lame demons are done for, once this is all over!" Kotoko whined as she stuck her tongue out at the teens. "Time, I do something to even the playing field! I need a Bomber Monokuma to come out!"

Soon a Bomber Monokuma, wearing its bullet proof vest, and its large silver container of bombs on its back soon appeared. Kotoko then pointed at the spots of the arena that weren't covered in water.

"Blow up the ground that isn't drenched, so the whole arena is flooded with water!" Kotoko ordered as the Bomber Monokuma jumped down and threw one of its bombs at one of the spots that were dry. It soon blew up, creating a crater that began to have water spill into it. "If this whole arena has water, you can't shock Highlander without shocking yourselves! Then I'll be free to try to kill you two with my Fighter Robot with no problems!"

"There's more then one way to expose the weak point on that robot, and you just gave us another way to do so," Mukuro said calmly, while Kotoko looked confused at her. Mukuro looked towards Komaru, as the younger teen looked towards her. "Komaru, make that Bomber Monokuma start dancing!"

"Wait… what?" Kotoko said out loud, feeling extremely confused. Komaru however smirked, as she trusted Mukuro and fired a dance bullet at the Bomber Monokuma. The Bomber Monokuma soon began to dance in place, while Kotoko had an expressionless face, not sure what they were trying to do. Mukuro then ran up to the Bomber Monokuma, and carefully took out one of its bombs from its silver container from its back. Mukuro then threw the bomb with great strength and speed towards the dark red chest plate on Highlander's chest. Mukuro quickly took out her two handguns and just when they were nearby the dark red chest plate, fired rapidly at them, emptying her handgun's ammo. An explosion occurred that broke the dark red chest plate off the robot, exposing its pink core, and stunning the machine in place while Kotoko's face freaked out.

"I'll finish this Mukuro!" Komaru shouted, as Mukuro nodded to the younger teen. Komaru quickly positioned herself where the Bomber Monokuma was still dancing in front of her, and with Highlander the Great further in front of her. Using a knockback bullet, the Bomber Monokuma was sent flying to the Fighter Robot, with the rest of its bombs landing near the big mech. More explosions occurred, severely damaging it even more. Komaru then switched to break bullets, as she fired at the pink core, and soon Kotoko's mech was beginning to short circuit and have steam leave from it.

"Why…?" Kotoko questioned, sounding both sad and confused. Her face was one for being at a loss for words and of a mixture of frustration and sadness as tears poured out. Her remote controller soon began to short circuit itself, as she took it off herself and threw it away. "Am I about to lose to these demons? Kids… can't win against adults?"

Komaru and Mukuro distanced themselves from Highlander the Great, as the Fighter Robot was short circuiting more and more. Soon enough, a giant fiery explosion engulfed the machine, scattering its metal remains all over the arena. Kotoko was at a loss still, as her face looked as if her spirit was broken. A Monokuma Kid soon showed up and took the pet cat cage holding Grand Bois off the terrace and handed it over to Komaru and Mukuro. Komaru picked the cage up, happy to have rescued another hostage, while Mukuro looked towards Kotoko. Monokuma Kids were slowly approaching Kotoko due to losing the fight, while she just cried, not moving from her position. Mukuro sighed, hoping she wasn't going to regret what she was about to do. She quickly ran and leaped right between Kotoko and the Monokuma Kids, with her two knives drawn out.

"All of you, back away and leave!" Mukuro threatened as the Monokuma Kids seeing this, decided to run away, as the soldier girl was still immensely intimidating to them. Kotoko's face became one of shock, while Komaru still on the arena ground wondered what Mukuro's reason for doing this was. Komaru however felt a bit glad to see that Mukuro could be more merciful in a way now though.

"What?" Kotoko said, still confused, as she backed away from Mukuro, not wanting to be with the black-haired teen regardless of her defending her. However she soon realized she shouldn't have done that. Kotoko fell off the terrace and rolled as if she were a ball, onto the arena, and stopped right in front of her Komaru while her strawberry themed underwear ended up sticking out, while Komaru kept quiet, unsure what to say of the sight. The Monokuma Kids were now all gone, as Mukuro leaped back into the arena and regrouped with Komaru, as Kotoko now pulled herself up, and just sat on the watery ground with tears in her eyes and just looking merely annoyed now at the teens.

"Perverts! This is borderline indecent!" Kotoko whined. Komaru stayed silent unsure of what to say while Mukuro looked irritated.

"Be quiet! I only saved you because I want to know where the remaining hostages are!" Mukuro shouted with a glare towards Kotoko. "I'm tired of dealing with you Warriors of Hope, so tell us where the remaining hostages are!"

"What are you doing to that child?" said a calm new voice, that was not present before. Komaru, Mukuro, and Kotoko looked towards the terrace, where the voice came from. It was Nagisa as he looked annoyed. He jumped down to the arena, and slowly walked over to where the three girls were. "How immature of you two… no, I guess it is rather demonic in a way. Ganging up and abusing a child? It's like a special skill you all have,"

"Nagisa!" Kotoko spoke out, surprised to see one of her companions was here. Mukuro however looked even more irritated.

"Abuse? Aren't you the ones to cause this madness in Towa City?" Mukuro questioned. Nagisa got a long look at Mukuro, as he couldn't help but think the girl's resemblance was close to Big Sis Junko, especially up close. Still he decided that didn't matter for now, as he decided to answer her question.

"All we want is a peaceful paradise… where children can live without fear," Nagisa answered calmly.

"And you want to achieve such peace, by using the Monokumas to murder the adults?" Mukuro questioned, feeling unconvinced.

"She's right. If all you wanted was a peaceful paradise, you shouldn't have done it like this!" Komaru added, while Grand Bois just meowed in a stern manner, as if also agreeing with what was said. Nagisa simply shook his head, disagreeing with them.

"There is no other choice. We must kill them. If we allow them to live, our paradise will be undone… and if that happens, we will all be forced to endure pain once more. Nothing will change. We can never be at peace until we have wiped out every single one of them," Nagisa stated calmly and coldly. His voice then turned more hostile as even his face took a look of frustration. "We have to kill the demons! To protect our world!"

"That sounds like something out of a videogame," Mukuro said with mixed feelings, knowing the children were all damaged in some significant way. "Are you of sane mind? Because you sound mentally unwell,"

"Yeah… you're probably right. We've all gone mad. Masaru, Jataro, Kotoko, Monaca… and myself. We're probably all insane… and broken," Nagisa said quietly as he himself agreed with Mukuro on that. His face then became hostile again as he kept speaking. "But whose fault is that!? The adults are the one who broke us!"

"Nagisa…" Kotoko said quietly and seriously, as the boy kept going on, emphasizing with him.

"You want to hear the truth? We're scared… we're all terrified of the adults. Hearing their footsteps… sensing their presence. We can't help but feel scared… and completely terrified," Nagisa said quietly. "As long as the adults exist, we cannot rest… we cannot live in peace. At this point, the damage is irreversible,"

"I… I figured… that was something like that was behind all of this. I do pity you," Komaru spoke with sympathy as she felt bad for the kids. However, her voice became a bit more stern as she continued to talk. "But… no matter how pitiful you are, it doesn't mean you can hurt others because of it! To just treat them like how they treated you… that's just going to make everyone equally miserable!"

"So, you're saying we should just take the abuse? You're saying we should just abandon… hope?" Nagisa questioned. Mukuro raised her eyebrows questioningly, just hearing the boy just say the word hope by itself like that while Komaru felt the word resonated with her.

"Hope?" Komaru questioned. Nagisa simply shook his head calmly.

"No, it's fine. Let's end this already. I want… both of you to leave this town," Nagisa proposed. Both Mukuro and Komaru's eyes widened in surprise, as that was the last thing they ever expected to hear from the boy. "You both want to escape the city right? Then I will let you both leave. Satisfied?"

"Nagisa, are you sure?" Kotoko said out loud, really wondering if that was something Nagisa should do.

"It's my decision, as leader of the Warriors of Hope," Nagisa stated calmly back to her.

"But… what about Monaca?" Kotoko questioned, as she wondered if Monaca approved or was even aware of Nagisa's proposal just now.

"I'll… persuade her," Nagisa said, trying to sound confident, though a bit unsure himself if this was really going to work out well.

"Hold on, are you being absolutely serious?" Mukuro questioned, wondering if this was some sort of trap.

"Until we had to deal with you two, our revolution was progressing smoothly. I don't want you two to interfere any longer," Nagisa explained calmly. He then shouted the following, making his point and intent clear. "So please just get out of here! Stay away from us and leave this city!"

Komaru and Mukuro were at a loss of words. Both looked at each other with confused and concerned expressions, unsure of what to say, as what Nagisa managed to say, stunned them into silence. A silence they would soon have to fill with some sort of response, on what to do next.

 **To Be Continued…**

* * *

 **So what did you guys think? Notes as usual.  
**

 **1\. Makoto never went to Towa City in the original Another Episode (though he was still involved in its plot).**

 **2\. In the original Another Episode, when Komaru is being "motivated," you have to play a mini game to make sure she isn't motivated too much which causes a game over. I went about it differently in this chapter, in order for it to make more sense.**

 **3\. Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg was never encountered by Komaru and Toko in the original Another Episode. So for Celeste's pet cat to be Kotoko's hostage in this chapter is very different.  
**

 **4\. Kotoko would summon regular and Guard Monokumas during her boss fight in the game, but not Bomber Monokumas, so this is a difference here.**

 **5\. Where and what leads to Komaru getting captured by Kotoko is different in this version of the story as well. Also this version of the story actually explains why the train crashes as well.**

 **That's it for notes for this chapter. As usual if anyone wants to say, criticize, point out, etc, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. Till the next chapter!**


	17. Revelations At Towa Shrines

**Chapter 17 is finally here! I'll address the reviews from the previous chapter before moving on.**

 **doomqwer yeah, she went through some heavy stuff. I wouldn't want anyone to go through that. DannyPhantom619, that will eventually be reached. Glover64 thank you and the others for the kind words as I truly appreciate it.**

 **As usual I hope you're all enjoying this story so far, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Komaru and Mukuro were still in the arena, where they fought Kotoko's mech, as the two along with Kotoko herself and Nagisa were still standing there. They were still surprised by what Nagisa told the two, as the boy wanted them to leave Towa City, as they stood with confusion, unsure what to make of what they heard from the boy. Grand Bois was still in the captive pet cage, that was being held by Komaru, as the cat just looked on from what was happening. Nagisa seeing their hesitance, continued to plead to the two teenagers.

"Please, I beg of you! Please leave this city!" Nagisa stated as he looked desperate.

"Where… where did this come from?" Komaru asked, feeling unsure still, as this sounded something that sounded too good to be true. As this was happening, the two Warriors of Hope, and the two teenager girls were focused on each other, a certain security camera that overlooked the arena, was focusing intently on them. We switch locations briefly as we see Nagito still at Towa Shrines, overlooking what was happening with a smirk.

"What interesting developments," Nagito said, feeling pleased. "Looks like I might be seeing Miss Protagonist soon,"

The scene pans back to the water filled arena, as we see Nagisa continue to speak to Komaru and Mukuro.

"In order for the new society of children to be calm and peaceful, I need to create a paradise. Everyone has high expectations of me… so I cannot fail!" Nagisa explained. His face formed a mix of frustration and fear as he continued. "So please, both of you get out of this city!"

"Why should we trust your offer?" Mukuro asked, as she still felt skeptical about this whole thing.

"Because it's not an offer. It's an honest request," Nagisa replied honestly. He then kneed to the ground and bowed his head towards them, showing that he was that serious. "Please… I'm begging you two… please leave this city!"

"Hey!" Komaru sounded out, feeling mixed about Nagisa knelling to them like that, even if he was among those antagonizing them.

"Just because you're kneeling to us like this, doesn't make you necessarily more trustworthy," Mukuro said out loud, feeling everything, she was hearing, was too good to be true. Hearing this, Nagisa stood up and decided to show to them, that he could trust them. He took out what appeared to be a blue keycard, while both Mukuro and Komaru looked confused from this. He walked over to Komaru and held the keycard in front of the explosive wristband. A sound popped up from the wristband, and just like that, the wristband fell off Komaru's wrist.

"Will that suffice? Because now… she is free," Nagisa said calmly as both Komaru and Mukuro's eyes widened from surprise again. Kotoko gasped from what she saw, extremely surprised by the action she saw as well.

"Nagisa! You're going to make Monaca super sad!" Kotoko warned, as she was wondering herself if Monaca would really approve of all of Nagisa's current actions.

"I'm well aware of that! But this has to be done! Monaca has great expectations of me! I'm sure… she'll understand," Nagisa replied back feeling unsure himself. Kotoko looked at Nagisa with an unsure look, feeling this was a very bad decision. The boy then turned his attention back to the two teenager girls. "I'll take you two to the secret passageway in this city. It will lead you both out of it. I can guarantee your safety until you reach it. The Monokuma won't attack with me here. So let's go,"

"But…. but… what about-" Komaru said out loud and was about to say more, before Mukuro said something to interrupt her.

"Give me a little time to discuss this with her, regarding all of this," Mukuro said as she grabbed one of Komaru's arms and dragged the girl to a fair distance away from the two Warriors of Hope. Once Mukuro felt she and Komaru was far away enough from the two kids, she let go of Komaru's arms and began to talk with her. "I think… we can use this to our advantage,"

"We can? But I thought you wanted to stay in Towa City till we rescued all of the hostages being held here?" Komaru asked, feeling confused while Grand Bois just meowed quietly, as if the cat was confused as well.

"Let's say he's telling the truth. That he really does want us both out of Towa City," Mukuro whispered to her. "This secret passageway he mentioned... if he shows us where it is, and if it is legitimate… then we can use that passageway as a way to get out of this city both for the hostages and ourselves,"

"You mean… after he shows us this secret passage, you plan to not leave till all the hostages are secured?" Komaru asked as Mukuro nodded.

"Exactly. Maybe we can have him reveal the locations of remaining hostages as well, if we pressure him," Mukuro suggested. "Either way, we possibly learn of a way to actually escape the city,"

"That… that sounds like a good idea," Komaru said, liking the sounds of it. But Komaru's expression turned skeptical herself, the more she thought about it. "But what if it's a trap? What if he's lying to us?"

"Then I'll make him regret it," Mukuro whispered back while Komaru could only gulp from hearing that. "Personally, I still don't trust him. But let's see where this goes for now,"

"Well he did get rid of the explosive wristband that was on me so… I think we can trust him," Komaru whispered back, grateful that the boy did that. Mukuro however just stayed silent as the two then walked back to the Warriors of Hope who still were waiting at where they were before. Komaru then decided to address Nagisa. "We're going to follow you to this secret passageway,"

"Just be warned that you better not be lying to us," Mukuro stated seriously.

"Thank you," Nagisa stated with relief, glad they were finally willing to cooperate with him. "It's going to be alright. I will guide you two to the secret passageway,"

Nagisa began to slowly walk away to the terrace where the exit was, as Komaru and Mukuro reluctantly walked after him, as the boy intended to leave the arena now. The three stopped when Kotoko shouted the following out.

"Nagisa! What about Monaca!?" Kotoko said, still not wanting Nagisa to go through with this. Nagisa stopped walking as he heard this, then turned to face her.

"Don't follow us. You don't want Monaca to hate you, do you?" Nagisa asked seriously, as Kotoko just stared back, just as serious. "I assure you, everything will be fine,"

Soon Nagisa walked away, as Komaru and Mukuro walked after him while Grand Bois decided to try to take a nap in its cage, trying to get some sleep. Soon enough, only Kotoko remained in the arena alone. She stayed quiet, unsure of what to say or what to do, as she just pondered, what she should do next, after all that's happened.

* * *

Some time passed as Nagisa, Kotoko, and Mukuro made it back onto the streets of Towa City.

"This way!" Nagisa said as he began to run as both Komaru and Mukuro paced after the boy. The three were running till they ran into an intersection area that was blocked off with multiple Monokumas. The Monokumas upon seeing them slowly started to approach them. "I command you all to disperse!"

The Monokumas however just ignored Nagisa, and kept approaching them. Nagisa became confused as to why this was happening, while Komaru looked concerned, while Mukuro became more skeptical.

"I command you all to disperse! Did you not hear me?" Nagisa shouted, wondering why they weren't listening to him. The Monokumas however just ignored him, and even began to reveal their sharp metal claws. "Disperse!"

Nagisa panicked as he backed away, only to stumble and fall onto the ground. He covered his eyes with his head, trying to defend himself. However, he soon the sounds of explosions, as he slowly removed his hands over his eyes. He saw that Mukuro was using her knives, and slashing against the mechanical beasts while Komaru was using her megaphone weapon and firing out shots from it, from the hand that wasn't holding Grand Bois's cage, causing the bear machines to break. Once all the Monokumas in the area were cleared out, he slowly got up, standing himself.

"I… I don't understand. Why did they attack me?" Nagisa stated both with curiosity and nervousness. "This is… strange,"

"Hey… you weren't lying when you said you help us… right?" Komaru asked as she felt similarly. "You said the Monokumas wouldn't attack us if you were here,"

"Of course, I wasn't lying! If I wanted to be against you leaving, I wouldn't have removed that explosive bracelet!" Nagisa answered back.

"If that's truly the case… then perhaps your companions you are working with, don't approve of your current decisions with us then?" Mukuro questioned, as she had a feeling that this Monaca girl that was mentioned before, had some powerful authority. "Maybe they feel it's an act of betrayal?"

"Betrayal!?" Nagisa yelled out in response, his face feeling frustration. "This isn't anything like that! I'm not a traitor at all! As the leader of the Warriors of Hope, I care more about making our children's paradise happen! It's why I'm making sure you two leave this city even!"

"Then it looks like some or all of your partners don't see it that way," Mukuro replied, making Nagisa feel more confused.

"I'm sure… Monaca would understand if I can properly explain it to her personally," Nagisa whispered to himself. "I won't fail her high expectations,"

"In any case, we have to keep going. We can't let those Monokumas get in the way to this secret passage," Komaru stated.

"If any more of those Monokumas show up, Komaru and I can take care of them," Mukuro added. "So, let's keep moving to this secret passageway you claim exists,"

Nagisa merely nodded to the two, as he pressed onward with Komaru and Mukuro following him.

* * *

In a separate location, we now check in a new location that we haven't seen before. We see Makoto in what appears to be a large room, as his eyes slowly awakened. After they fully awoke, he looked around.

"Where… where am I?" Makoto said, as he observed his surroundings. He was sitting on what appeared to be a bed, near the corner of a large room with white and blue metal walls. Nearby him he saw a toilet on the other side with a sink to the left of it. He also saw two large metal black doors that he presumed led to and out of the room he was in. He saw some metal shelves around the room, that had cardboard boxes filled with documents. Makoto immediately searched himself to see if he had anything on himself, like his Smartphone. After a bit of searching, he realized they took it away from him. He looked around once more, speaking of where he was. "It looks like a storage room that was turned into a prison cell,"

Makoto sighed as he dreaded the situation, he was now in. This wasn't good at all. The others back at Future Foundation Headquarters were probably worried sick about him at the moment, and he was currently captured by people working for Junko, and causing chaos in the city he was in.

"I messed up," Makoto said with a frustrated and disappointed sigh of himself. "Now I only made things worse,"

Makoto sighed as he felt like a total fool for what he did. Before he could wallow more in his frustration at himself, he heard footsteps approaching from outside the room. He looked confused as he looked towards the black metal doors. They soon opened, as a female Monokuma Kid was slowly wheeling Monaca into the room, with two Beast Monokumas following from behind, that went to the left and right of Monaca's side. Makoto couldn't help but now feel tense, at the sights before him.

"Why hello! Monaca can finally meet Mr. Makoto Naegi!" Monaca said with a big grin, as she offered her hand out to Makoto. The teen looked unsure whether to shake it or not, as he decided to not do anything yet, but just stare back. Monaca eventually withdrew her hand and just giggled. "Well Monaca sees you just need time to warm up to Monaca,"

"I… I don't understand," Makoto said as Monaca looked curiously back at him. "Why… why are you and the other kids working for someone like Junko?"

"Why would Monaca work for Big Sis Junko?" Monaca teased with a happy and curious expression. "Because… that's for Monaca to know and not for you to know!"

"Then at least tell me if the hostages in this city are safe!" Makoto said with frustration. "You told me if I came here, it would guarantee the remaining hostages would be safe!"

Monaca could only laugh at what she just heard, while Makoto had a face that was stressed out and disturbed. She then snapped her fingers, and her Monokuma Kid wheeled her out of the room, while the two Beast Monokumas made sure Makoto wouldn't do anything as the teenager boy, was soon back all alone as the Beast Monokuma left afterwards. As soon the doors were shut, he heard a locking sound and just felt like a big twit still.

"I'm sorry Mukuro… Komaru… I screwed up," Makoto said as he sighed and laid on the bed in the room, trying to figure out what he should do. He looked at the cardboard boxes filled with documents, and decided to bring one of them nearby him. "Maybe I can find out things from any of the stuff left in here,"

* * *

We now see Mukuro, Komaru, and Nagisa in a location nearby a pile of many adult corpses near what appeared to be the entrance to a Japanese shrine area. Mukuro and Komaru were breathing hard, as the two fought off a ton of Monokumas along the way, were now sitting on the street floor resting, while Nagisa grew increasingly paranoid from the attempted attacks on him. Grand Bois was still napping (or trying to nap due to all the noise and commotion in general) in his portable cage. Komaru was disturbed seeing a large pile of dead adult bodies, atop each other, with leaking blood and couldn't help but question Nagisa.

"You… you really don't feel anything from seeing any of this?" Komaru asked nervously.

"These people… they're demons. Our enemies," Nagisa simply said darkly, his face unflinching from the sight.

"That wasn't her question," Mukuro said, noticing that he avoided answering Komaru's question.

"You're afraid of adults… that's what you said before right?" Komaru asked, while Nagisa scowled at them.

"That's right, I am. If they didn't exist, myself and the others can live in peace," Nagisa affirmed back.

"Why? Why are you afraid of the adults?" Komaru asked, wondering what the boy's deal was. Nagisa seeing that the two needed some time to rest from all the fighting they did to protect him earlier, decided to indulge them.

"I'll tell you why. Myself and the other Warriors of Hope were part of Hope's Peak elementary program. We were put in the class designated for troublemakers. I resented being called such a thing. As if myself and my friends were the cause of it. But that wasn't right. Out trouble was created by adults… by our parents," Nagisa calmly explained.

"What did your parents do?" Komaru asked, wondering more about it. She was aware what Masaru, Jataro, and Kotoko's parents did to those three, as horrible as it was. She wondered what made Nagisa become the way he was at the moment.

"My parents without any hyperbole… were the worst. Demonic towards parents treated me as if I was someone in a videogame, waiting to be leveled up. They didn't treat me humanely, and probably forgot I was their son. All I did was study morning to night for them, and whenever I got tired, they would use analeptics on me, keeping me awake. It never stopped. If I ever showed resistance to them… they would show physical force to me, as their persuasion to not stop. Doing all this so I can match their expectations," Nagisa said with an angry grimace, as pained memories began to flood to him as he began to explain what his parents did to him, while Komaru felt bad for Nagisa, while Mukuro admittedly could empathize to a degree, in regards to meeting expectations from family. Nagisa took a deep breath and sighed, before he continued.

"It wasn't just at home I would have to try and meet these expectations. I would also have to meet them in school as well. My father was a teacher at the school and he was a researcher of children's talent. He used me… his own son as a test subject, to research the growth of a child's talent. He did what he did to me, because he wanted to see what that growth would be like, if that child was pushed to a breaking point," Nagisa said as his face now looked depressed. "Isn't that amusing? How I was subject to all of this?"

"It's not funny at all," Komaru said quietly, feeling more sympathy for the child compared to before.

"Hmph, I wish you could tell that to my parents back then. Despite all of that… I still feel I arguably came out in a better position, compared to my companions," Nagisa stated. "I'm sure the soldier girl has seen her on the announcements and you've seen her in the airship. Monaca, the one Kotoko and I have mentioned in the past... the girl in the wheelchair. The reason she's in a wheelchair is… because of her family. Her father and her older brother did that to her, because they were jealous of her and her talent and that's how she ended up using a wheelchair." Nagisa finished explaining. Komaru was shocked on her face, while Mukuro grimaced as even she had to admit that wasn't normal at all.

"That's horrible," Komaru said with a saddened expression.

"Because myself and my friends had talent… and because we were superior… we all got treated as if we were in Hell itself. Back then, we didn't know any better. We didn't hate our parents at the time, despite their cruel treatment of us. We trusted the common knowledge that kids love their parents," Nagisa stated coldly. "When myself and the other discussed our situations, we all ended up eventually coming with the realization, that what they were doing to us wasn't love, but just abuse. This led to us all coming to one conclusion. That conclusion being that we had to escape from this horrifying filled world that made us suffer!"

"How did… how did you plan to escape?" Komaru asked, wondering what they had in mind.

"Group suicide," Nagisa stated bluntly, which caused Komaru's eyes to freak out, while Mukuro couldn't help but frown from hearing that a group of kids were pushed to that point. "We were desperate to run away from our cruel parents… from cruel adults… and from this cruel world… and before we were going to do such an action, we met someone. An individual who taught us to have courage, and to fight back instead of running away. That person was Big Sis Junko,"

Mukuro's eyes went wide upon hearing her sister's name being spoken again, while Komaru was still rather curious of this Junko person. Mukuro was also pretty curious to see what her sister did to these children exactly.

"Big Sis Junko told us… that she would take from us, that we intended to throw away," Nagisa added. "So, we let her take us, away from our homes and parents. Our disappearances weren't really noticed as this happened around the same time as that incident that people call "The Tragedy". Ever since she took us, our lives have all been significantly much more enjoyable. Big Sis Junko showed us love and affection that we never had from our parents. Besides love, she gave us all a dream to work towards too."

"Your so called children's paradise," Mukuro said out loud, as Nagisa nodded, as she was correct.

"Exactly. She gave us the belief we needed to try to make this dream a reality. That belief being that all adults are demons. It was as if we all reached enlightenment, as the so-called common knowledge that we had all come to know in the past, was nothing more then lies, used to control children, for the benefit of the adults." Nagisa replied. "Children shouldn't defy their parents, people must get along, and violence never brings peace… to change the world based on such lies, we decided to fight against the adults,"

"And you believe in this belief from her?" Komaru asked, as she thought Junko was such a messed-up person, even more than before.

"Yes. In fact, just to make it clear, I'll tell you this. I remember the first adult, myself and the others killed wasn't even anyone we knew personally. It was just a random stranger," Nagisa calmly explained. "We continued to kill more and more adults. Big Sis Junko was so pleased… just the idea of a child killing an adult, is despair inducing and what she wanted,"

"That's insane! It just sounds to me… that this Junko person took advantage of you guys, for her own goals!" Komaru shouted in response.

"So, what if she did? She still loved and cared for us more, then our parents ever did," Nagisa replied calmly, which only surprised Komaru while Mukuro could only wonder if Junko treated them better, then her own sister. "Big Sis Junko gave us all the hope we desired, to keep going in this terrible world. A hope so strong… that it even gave us the strength needed to kill our parents,"

"You killed your parents!?" Komaru said freaked out, while even Mukuro couldn't help but feel concerned from hearing that.

"That we did and I have no regrets whatsoever," Nagisa answered coldly. "From there, "Operation Children's Paradise," began and we began freeing other children from their parents. Everything was going smoothly for the Warriors of Hope… though admittedly, things aren't as going as well as they could be recently. Besides you two, a certain group of people foiled a plan that Big Sis Junko had, involving Hope's Peak Academy,"

"Do you mean… the plan that involved all the people related to the hostages in this city?" Komaru asked, as Nagisa looked irritated at her.

"I suppose information travels fast, concerning everything now. Yes, you're correct. Despite that occurring, Big Sis Junko is still well and is elsewhere and she hasn't given up, especially on us. She entrusts the Warriors of Hope to take care of business here in Towa City." Nagisa answered back. "We are going to all leave the lies that bounded us to the adults to the past, as our revolution will create the revolution we want. That is our hope,"

"All of you… you really don't understand that you're doing something wrong?" Komaru questioned.

"Concepts like pure justice and pure evil… these are beliefs that the adults have supposedly defined, have they not?" Nagisa replied back. "First off, all pure evil doesn't exist. In all evil there is good within it, and in the other extreme, justice will always end up hurting someone. Justice isn't pure either."

"That's… well… what about-" but before Komaru could say more, Mukuro interrupted as she had questions of her own, she wanted to ask.

"How did you kids get an army of Monokumas?" Mukuro asked, curious to hear what Nagisa would say.

"Monaca. She was the one that provided the Monokumas to all of us," Nagisa said with a smile. "Monaca is so amazing. It's thanks to her magic, that we have the Monokumas!"

"Magic?" Komaru said out loud, wondering if what she just heard was correct.

"Tch. Magic or no magic, it sounds to me, Monaca is the one who's truly in charge, compared to the other Warriors of Hope," Mukuro stated. "You sure you're the leader of the Warriors of Hope?"

"Of course, I am! Monaca herself appointed me the position, after Masaru was defeated!" Nagisa snapped back, while Mukuro could only roll her eyes, as it seemed even Nagisa didn't realize the implications of what he said.

"Hey… about something you said earlier. About pure justice and pure evil," Komaru asked as she stood up from the ground, ready to begin walking soon. "Even if that was true… a dream that requires you to hurt people, is wrong in my opinion,"

"How naïve. I was right to ask you two to leave," Nagisa said, unimpressed. "Let's continue. The secret passage is right up ahead,"

* * *

Nagisa soon began to walk towards the shrine, with both teenager girls slowly walking after him. Soon enough, they arrived at the actual shrine itself. They were walking up steps as the traveling party finally arrived at Towa Shrines. Nagisa walked up to a small wooden structure and slowly, but surely, pushed it away, from the spot it was on. Below it, was what appeared to be a secret underground staircase. Komaru placed Grand Bois's cage down as she looked at the staircase.

"Stairs here?" Komaru said out loud, wondering about it.

"This is the secret passageway we prepared, in case of emergency. If you go through it, it eventually leads to outside of Towa City," Nagisa explained. "Now you two better leave now,"

"On one more condition before myself and Komaru will leave," Mukuro stated, which just caused Nagisa to glare back at her. "You will tell me where the remaining hostages are. I'm not leaving till all the people I intend to save are safe and leaving as well,"

Before Nagisa could retort angrily, the three suddenly heard someone laughing, causing them to be silent and confused.

"Oh my! Well look who we have here," said a familiar voice to both Komaru and Nagisa, while Mukuro's eyes went extremely wide, as it was familiar to her, for the wrong reasons. The three looked to the front doors of the shrines, as a certain teenager just exited from it. That teenager being Nagito Komaeda, as he was smiling at his current situation. "What luck do I have, running into you three here!"

"You!?" Mukuro whispered with both surprise and contempt under her breath, towards Nagito. She was far aware of Nagito, as he was a student of Hope's Peak Academy and one of the Remnants of Despairs that Junko influenced. He always felt extremely unnerving to everyone else back in Hope's Peak Academy, even before becoming a Remnant of Despair, with his obsession with hope. An obsession that led to feelings of unrest and unease to ferment within the people he was with usually.

"Why are you here!?" Nagisa asked, astonished at Nagito's presence.

"Why am I here? Why I have business with Miss Protagonist and her companion here," Nagito answered calmly.

"Huh? Business?" Komaru said, as she didn't expect to see him again, while Mukuro gritted her teeth at Nagito's presence.

"Indeed. Komaru Naegi… though you are normal, not an Ultimate, and not even part of the Future Foundation… you have survived and made it this far in this game of Demon Hunting. Even I have to commend you to some degree," Nagito both criticized and complimented. Komaru just blinked her eyes, while Mukuro was tempted to just stab him to death, not wanting him to be involved at all. Nagisa however began to get angry, as he thought Nagito was just wasting all of their time.

"Don't just go speaking your mind like this! You're a servant! Also they have to leave, or the paradise we children want, won't come about!" Nagisa scolded to Nagito, while the teenager boy just smugly looked back at the younger boy.

"Let me ask you something. What's more important to the Warriors of Hope? Paradise or the game?" Nagito asked.

"What are you talking about? Of course what's more important is-" but Nagisa was cut off as Nagito interrupted him.

"The game of course. After all, you must be at least vaguely aware of why," Nagisa answered confidently. "You could have openly proposed to halt these slayings, to focus instead on building your paradise. But you chose to sneak these two away, in hope of making them both leave this city. You know the reason why you made your decision. It's because you realize your favorite Miss Mage would rather choose the game over paradise,"

"Why you!" Nagisa shouted out, beginning to lose his patience against Nagito, while the older teenager just looked disappointed at Nagisa.

"Do you know what you call someone who is behaving the way you're behaving?" Nagito asked, while Nagisa looked confused back at him. "A traitor,"

"You're wrong! I care more about them then anyone! They all have high hopes for me!" Nagisa replied angrily. "I am the leader of the Warriors of Hope!"

"Nagisa… why don't you run along and let me take care of things? I have business with these two anyway," Nagito answered back simply while Nagisa just continued to look frustrated. "Why don't you calm down and step away for me? Or I might let Miss Mage herself know directly about what you've been doing,"

"Damn it!" Nagisa cursed, as he began to run away from everyone else, soon gone from the Towa Shrines area. Nagito then focused on Komaru and Mukuro and looked very pleased. Mukuro looked annoyed that Nagisa now run off, before she and Komaru could get any more information out of the boy.

"Now that the people who aren't needed are gone… I can focus on the people who are needed," Nagito said calmly as Komaru looked confused, while Mukuro gritted her teeth.

"What do you want with us?" Komaru asked, wondering why the so called servant finally showed up again.

"I want to test your will in regards to hope," Nagito explained calmly. "After all, I've been the one that's been guiding you so far,"

"Excuse me? You've been guiding her?" Mukuro questioned, wondering how he was involved in all of this.

"I have. To give some examples… I was the one who returned her Hacking Gun to her. I was also the one who had the Monokuma Kids give back her the other types of bullets, for the Hacking Gun," Nagito explained as the teenager girls looked at each other with confusion, and then at him.

"What?" Mukuro asked, wondering what Nagito's goals were. "I thought you were working for the Warriors of Hope?"

"I am working for them, but I am also working towards my own goals as well," Nagito answered. "This game you're playing… it's one the children involved you in, whereas it's one I want you to grow from,"

"Why me!?" Komaru answered, feeling very concerned that Nagito had this much vested interest in her, for some reason.

"Why? Well it's rather simple. It's your brother's fault really," Nagito answered, while Komaru blinked her eyes, while Mukuro glared at Nagito, wondering what he was about to say regarding Makoto. "The one who I truly hate… Junko Enoshima… he was the biggest reason why her plan for Hope's Peak Academy was a failure, as he and his actions led to her defeat there. I wasn't there to witness it. That's why this time around… I wanted to see the action up close. Besides that, unlike him, you're not an Ultimate. You're just a normal girl who can't do anything,"

"But if that's how you feel about me, it sounds like there be better candidates for… whatever you want?" Komaru answered back.

"But the qualities you have are fitting for what I want out of all this. After all, you're the sister to the hero that is the symbol of hope, while you're utterly boring in comparison," Nagito explained while Komaru felt awkward to hear of herself being spoken like that. "For you to be utterly normal, that was the compelling factor I needed. If someone like you were to stand against despair, that would bring hope to people,"

"Hope to people?" Komaru asked, as that word in particular she was hearing more and more lately.

"That's right. Hope is exclusively found on the side of the weak. The losing side. People are often inspired by underdog stories. Things like David slaying Goliath, or a sports team known to be outclassed, winning against their opponents. The majority of society is made up of the untalented and the weak. They are inspired by such tales," Nagito explained.

"What are you saying!?" Komaru asked, still confused by what she was hearing.

"If my assumptions are correct… you will release a light of hope, that will be even brighter then your brother's!" Nagisa answered back with eccentric excitement starting to fill his voice as he began to sound manic, as even his eyes started to glaze over with delusion. "In order for that to happen, I needed you to keep playing the game the children started here. Then you'll eventually become the savior and hope for this city! So please save this city and show me your dazzling hope which will crush despair!"

"What do you mean? I'm… hope!? I still don't understand!" Komaru repeated, while Mukuro was wondering if Nagito was merely here just to inform the two of his true intentions at the moment and if that was it. Nagito calmed himself down before he continued to speak to Komaru.

"Ah. I see you still don't understand. I blame myself, as I should have been more enthusiastic," Nagito said, while Komaru felt that was something he shouldn't do while Mukuro merely rolled her eyes from what she heard. "But regardless, I still truly place my faith in you. After all, no matter how large the despair is, hope will always in in the end. That's why I feel no remorse becoming despair myself!"

"You're just as crazy as those kids! You must be insane!" Komaru said, starting to feel afraid of Nagito herself, while the teenager boy just laughed at what he heard.

"Who cares about me? The more important thing is what you two are going to do now," Nagito explained.

"Excuse me? What the two of us are going to do right now?" Mukuro asked, wondering what Nagito was scheming. "What would that be?"

"Komaru is the sister to the boy full of hope. Everything she's done so far has been to build up her capabilities in order for her to take down those who support despair," Nagito explained. "Before she continues her journey in Towa City… I want to see her fight against the one that is the sister to the true Ultimate Despair!"

"Mukuro is… the sister to the true Ultimate Despair?" Komaru's eyes immediately widened from hearing that Mukuro was apparently involved, while Mukuro gritted her teeth towards Nagito. "What do you mean?"

"Mukuro Ikusaba… is Junko Enoshima's sister," Nagito explained calmly while Komaru's eyes bugged out, while Mukuro just took out both of her handguns as she quickly pointed them at Nagito's kneecaps. Audible clicks could be heard as she tried to fire bullets at them, but she cursed as she forgot she had used up all her handgun ammo, during the fight against Kotoko's mech earlier, while Nagito just smirked, seeing his luck was just as prevalent as ever. "Junko Enoshima who is considered the true Ultimate Despair, is the sister to Mukuro Ikusaba,"

"Mukuro! You're… Junko's sister!?" Komaru asked, feeling very confused and conflicted right now. "Is he telling the truth? Is he lying? I mean… you two don't even have the same last name!?"

"She is. She also helped Junko in the past, with many of her plans," Nagito continued to explain with a big smug look on his face now. "Mukuro has served Junko many times, in Junko's pursuit of despair. One of the biggest examples is the Killing School Life. That same plan which involved your brother and placed his life in danger… Makoto Naegi,"

"I didn't ask you!" Komaru yelled at Nagito, with extreme mixed emotions within her, as she turned to Mukuro, with a significantly confused expression. "Is this guy telling the truth Mukuro!? About everything with you and Junko?"

Mukuro closed her eyes, as she went deep into thought. Trying to decide what would be the best course of action, as she had never planned to reveal her connection to Komaru or to any of the hostages Yet here she was, in a situation where that might no longer be the case, thanks to Nagito Komaeda. Mukuro sighed and opened her eyes as she looked seriously and directly into Komaru's eyes.

"Komaru… what he said about me… being Junko's sister… and helping out her plans in the past… is all true," Mukuro stated clearly and seriously, as Komaru's eyes continued to widen. Komaru dropped the Megaphone Hacking Gun she was holding as she slowly backed away, while Mukuro had a strained face, while Nagito could only smile from what was happening. "That is the truth… and I know I've kept it from you for now. I'm sorry,"

Silence enveloped the air, as Komaru was at a loss for words. The person that had saved and helped her all this time, in Towa City… was one who helped caused all the madness and despair to begin with. Everything within Komaru, felt divided about her. But… despite all that, she had to acknowledge that Mukuro still did good things for her, and that earlier today, the soldier girl admitted she was far from ethical. Komaru then began to speak.

"Mukuro," Komaru said out loud seriously. "I'm not going to lie… after hearing this new information about you… I have a lot more I want to ask from you. Even more than before,"

"I bet you feel contempt for her now, don't you?" Nagito taunted, as he smirked. "Contempt for someone who had put you and your brother in harm's way. Doesn't that knowledge of her past deeds make you… the current avatar of hope want to fight-"

"But…" Komaru continued, as she just ignored Nagito, surprising the boy, while Mukuro focused on listening to her. "I admit I don't know the full story. You're clearly now going against your sister for some reason, even if you helped her in the past. So… even if this makes me a naïve kindhearted fool, I still have faith in you,"

"Komaru…" Mukuro whispered quietly, not sure what to feel from what she was hearing while Nagito looked intrigued from what was happening, as he didn't expect this at all. "Why?"

"You said it yourself earlier today to me. You admitted to me that in your past, you've done a lot of things you knew I wouldn't be a fan of exactly and you even felt I shouldn't have apologized to you earlier, on that train," Komaru explained, while Mukuro was surprised by what she was hearing. "You've also saved me. More than once even and are even trying to save others. Plus, the fact my big brother trusts you and likes you says a lot about you. I trust his judge of character, more then anyone else's besides my own,"

Komaru then had a small smile form on her face, while Mukuro looked genuinely surprised and confused, while Nagito looked bored. Komaru then turned her attention to Nagito as she then looked angry at the teen.

"You said you wanted me to fight against Mukuro… sorry but that's not happening," Komaru said, while Nagito just looked amused. "This whole prove myself to you and testing my hope thing, I'm not interested in at all. We're just going to keep doing what we're doing,"

"Some of the most agreeable things I've heard you say lately," Mukuro said, while Komaru just had a cheeky grin, from hearing that. Mukuro then faced Nagito with a glare. "I'm not going to fight Komaru, nor was I ever going to, you delusional freak. I don't care that you're here, I don't care why you're here and I rather you weren't. Get out of our sight and stop wasting our time,"

Nagito however simply laughed quietly from what he heard, which caused Komaru to become concerned, while Mukuro just looked more annoyed.

"It's not a matter if you two want to fight each other. It's a matter that you two will fight each other," Nagito simply said with a confident smile. He quickly took out what appeared to be a tranquilizer gun and aimed it at Komaru. Komaru's eyes paled and Nagito soon fired a dart towards her. Mukuro seeing this quickly ran in front of Komaru, and shielded her with her body, as the soldier gasped in pain, as the dart struck Mukuro's right shoulder.

"Mukuro!?" Komaru cried out worried. The younger teen immediately ran to Mukuro's side, and carefully helped get the dart off of the soldier, while Mukuro suddenly dropped to the floor, kneeling as she placed her left hand over her face.

"What the hell!" Mukuro yelled out in anger, as she was feeling her head was pounding now. Mukuro's eyes even started to go blank, as if they were starting to become lifeless. "What… did you do to me!?"

"I had a companion who I asked to make this special drug for me," Nagito stated, as Mukuro realized he was talking about a certain Ultimate Nurse, that was also one of the Remnants of Despairs. Nagito quickly took out what appeared to be a regular megaphone, as he began to speak, using it. "This drug is called Devil's Breath. It's made with an ingredient called scopolamine. It's a drug used in South America that's used for many uses. One use is that it can be used to control people and make them susceptible to suggestion. The shot I gave Mukuro is limited, but will serve me in it's short time. With this explained… Mukuro Ikusaba… I order you to fight Komaru Naegi,"

"Don't do this to her!" Komaru shouted, both angry at Nagito and sad at what was happening to Mukuro. The soldier girl, slowly stood up from the ground, Mukuro's eyes were now fully lifeless, as if she had no more willpower at the moment. She looked towards Komaru and slowly took out one of her knives, while Komaru felt nervousness and more sadness arise within herself. Komaru quickly rushed to pick up the Megaphone Hacking Gun she left on the ground earlier, and quickly picked up Grand Bois's cage, to move the cat aside, as she placed the cage, at the very end at a corner of the shrine area. Mukuro was struggling to not attack Komaru while she stood in place, trying to not move, while shouting in pain. "Don't force her to fight!"

"Why? As the sister to the true Ultimate Despair, she would have inevitably clashed with you, the sister to Ultimate Hope," Nagito spoke out loud, as Mukuro was slowly starting to get closer to Komaru. "Despair and hope are fated to clash. Just like how both your siblings clashed against each other, in Hope's Peak Academy. With your brother embodying hope, and Mukuro's sister Junko, embodying despair,"

"I don't care about any of that! Just make Mukuro go back to normal!" Komaru shouted out, as Mukuro was still struggling not to move. Nagito just shook his head for a no, while Mukuro was now starting to approach Komaru faster, causing the younger teen to feel nervous. "This isn't necessary!"

"Many things in life aren't necessary Miss Protagonist," Nagito calmly replied with a smile. "That's what makes life so interesting doesn't it? With all the luck… good or bad… it can throw one's way,"

Mukuro was now standing right before Komaru, holding one of her knives. Komaru had sweat drip down her face, nervous at the sight before her, while she wielded the Megaphone Hacking Gun.

"Mukuro Ikusaba… as I've said before… fight Komaru Naegi," Nagito commanded, using the regular megaphone he held. Mukuro hearing this, leaped into the air, while with Komaru seeing this, immediately dodge rolled out of the way, as Mukuro stabbed the ground with the knife. Mukuro then tried to pull the knife out, while Komaru quickly tried to think of what she could do.

"How do I snap Mukuro out of this?" Komaru thought as she tried to distance herself, from the brainwashed Mukuro, who finally got her knife out. "That crazy guy said that drug he used on her was limited. Maybe I can outlast her?"

Mukuro immediately charged at Komaru, and swiped at Komaru with the knife she held, while the younger teen barely dodged the slash.

"Mukuro! What are you doing!" Komaru pleaded as she tried her best to dodge more attacks from Mukuro, while sweating like crazy now. "Stop this Mukuro! Please answer me!"

Hearing Komaru's words, Mukuro's eyes briefly flashed with some of her sense of self and control back. Komaru felt a brief sense of relief, only for it to be dashed away, as Nagito seeing this looked displeased as used his megaphone once more.

"Keep attacking Komaru Naegi. Don't stop," Nagito commanded, as Mukuro's eyes went back to looking lifeless, as Mukuro charged at Komaru and tried to slam a kick into the younger teen, who barely dodged the attack.

"It's me, Komaru! Don't you recognize me!" Komaru shouted, as she decided to run like crazy now. Mukuro leaped to a nearby lamp post, as she looked toward where Komaru was running. She threw her knife, so it would stab the ground in front of Komaru, causing the younger teen to stop running, as Komaru's face paled. Mukuro then leaped towards where the knife was stuck, and began to pull it out of the ground, soon reclaiming it. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Mukuro's eyes began to show signs of life, as she placed her hands over her face, struggling to not let the drug and Nagito's influence control her. Komaru felt bad from what she saw, wanting Mukuro to regain control. Nagito seeing this simply sighed, and took out the megaphone he held.

"The sister to the true Ultimate Despair… don't stop fighting her," Nagito ordered, as Mukuro removed her hands, and her eyes looked lifeless once more towards Komaru. "I won't let you end this conflict without you fighting her, Komaru Naegi. It would be troublesome if you didn't play your role,"

"You big jerk! You're just forcing her into this with that drug you used!" Komaru yelled out, while Mukuro began to approach Komaru again. "And stop ordering her around with that megaphone of yours!"

Komaru felt an idea come to her head, as realization hit her hard, as her eyes went wide. She quickly looked towards Nagito and saw that he was still wielding his regular megaphone, and then at her Megaphone Hacking Gun. She then shouted the following out loud, as Mukuro was now right beside her, ready to attack.

"Mukuro please stop! I care about you!" Komaru shouted out, as just as Mukuro was about to slash at her. Mukuro's eyes went fully back to normal, as she stopped, right before the knife hit Komaru. Nagito was about to use the megaphone he had on him, but this was exactly what Komaru wanted, as she faced him and aimed her Megaphone Hacking Gun at him. "Break!"

Komaru fired a blue break bullet as it shot right at Nagito's megaphone. It directly hit and soon Nagito's megaphone began to short-circuit. Nagito seeing this, quickly dropped it, as it soon fell to the floor and exploded. Just as luck would have it for Komaru, the effects of the drug just wore off from Mukuro.

"Ko…ma….ru?" Mukuro said quietly, as Mukuro realized what she was about to do. The soldier girl, carefully moved her knife away, and saw that Komaru was slowly calming down. "I… I was about to…"

"It's okay Mukuro. It's not your fault," Komaru said relieved, as she ran up the black haired girl, and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're safe and back to normal,"

Mukuro fell silent, as Komaru once again manage to do such a thing to her. Komaru soon got herself out of the hug and smiled, while Mukuro had a facial expression of appreciation. However, it was short lived, as Mukuro soon yelped in pain again, while Komaru could only gasp. Mukuro felt another dart, this time on the back of her neck, as she turned around and saw Nagito was now right behind her.

"Allow me to give you motivation Ikusaba. Perhaps this second dose, will be enough for you and Komaru to properly fight," Nagito explained with a smile. Mukuro held her face again, while Komaru concerned for Mukuro. "Now it's time for the sisters to Ultimate Hope and Ultimate Despair to finally fight and-"

Before Nagito could say more, Mukuro now had both her knives out and charged from where she stood. Komaru from fear closed her eyes, and soon sounds of slashing could be heard. The brown haired teen soon opened her eyes and saw that she wasn't the one who was slashed. Both of Nagito's knees were slashed at, as even the hope obsessed boy was bewildered by what just happened. He collapsed to the ground, now sitting on it, while Mukuro gave Nagito an extremely hate filled glare, as blood slowly came out of his slashed knees. She removed the dart on the back of her neck, and crushed it with her right black boot.

"Shut the hell up!" Mukuro yelled out in anger, as she wiped the blood off both her knives, and placed one of them back into their sheath. "Your drugs don't work anymore on me, because I sure as hell not letting my will be controlled by you of all people! Not anymore!"

"Huh… what an unexpected development," Nagito said out loud. "To think that Mukuro Ikusaba… the sister to Junko Enoshima… would bond with the sister to Makoto Naegi. Junko would be disappointed of you, to learn that you two are friends. I'm sure of it,"

"The only disappointment, is you!" Mukuro roared with anger, hearing him refer to her as that, as she charged at Nagito with intent to kill, with the remaining knife she wielded. However she soon found herself restrained.

"Don't!" Komaru shouted out, as she suddenly grabbed Mukuro, while the soldier girl struggled.

"What are you doing!? Let me go!" Mukuro shouted out. Komaru however didn't and only held on tighter.

"Please Mukuro! You're my friend! I don't care what you did in the past! Everyone's done bad things in their past! Some more then others, but that doesn't change you trying to do good right now!" Komaru said with tears in her eyes, pleading to Mukuro. "You're important to me! You and I are friends now! You're a precious friend and I won't let you do this!"

"Hmph. You're probably wasting your time. She's just despair, just like her sister," Nagito taunted, as Mukuro stayed silent, feeling angry at the boy still, but taking Komaru's words in. "The Ultimate Soldier, one who is proficient in killing. A participator of war, which brings great despair. She'll always be that and she'll always harm those around her. If she wishes to harm me, I say let her,"

Mukuro soon stopped moving, as Komaru felt her body loosening up. Mukuro slowly put away her remaining knife, as she looked at Komaru with a serious look, as Komaru now looked confused, after hearing Nagito's words now.

"I… I don't want to hurt Makoto… or you Komaru," Mukuro spoke quietly, her face now stoic. "Maybe… maybe he's right about that at least. That I just hurt the people… I care about... around me,"

"No… no he isn't. You saving me all the time, shows that you care about people and don't want to hurt those you care about. You're suffering from guilt or something from your past… and whatever's happened from it," Komaru spoke softly as she walked up to Mukuro and gently clasped her hands around Mukuro's hands. "I don't know what happened in the past Mukuro. But… if you're hurting from it, then tell me."

Komaru's face now looked serious, as her eyes still had some leftover tears from before. Mukuro was surprised from what she was hearing, as she looked intently at Komaru.

"I'm an unreliable normal girl who can't do anything. But… at least I can do normal things… and it's normal for a friend to help a friend," Komaru said seriously and with a smile. "No matter what happens… we're friends Mukuro,"

Silence filled the air as both Mukuro and Komaru looked at each other. After what felt like an eternity Mukuro's stoic expression slowly turned into a soft and small smile.

"I… I like that Komaru. I can give it a shot. Both of us… as friends," Mukuro spoke softly, feeling trust for Komaru, she didn't feel before. Komaru smiled very warmly, and felt so happy, seeing that Mukuro had finally accepted her as a friend. Nagito just smirked from what he saw and just sighed.

"Oh well. I guess this is acceptable in its own way," Nagito spoke to himself with a shrug. Hearing him, both Mukuro and Komaru turned to face him.

"Alright. Tell us where the remaining hostages are. I'm pretty sure you know that," Mukuro asked, while Komaru got Grand Bois's cage and stood next to the soldier now. The cat was still luckily asleep, despite all that, just trying to catch up on it's beauty sleep.

"Why spoil the fun? Part of the fun is exploration in certain games," Nagito answered while Komaru just sighed and Mukuro just glared at him.

"Whatever. We wasted enough time on him. Time, we leave and get back to the Resistance Base," Mukuro grumbled as she and Komaru turned to leave Nagito.

"Before you two go, I have information I do wish to give you both though," Nagito said, as the teenager girls turned back to face him. "After you rescue all the hostages, I will find and appear before you two again,"

"And why should we care?" Mukuro asked, starting to get even more annoyed by Nagito.

"Because Makoto Naegi… is being held hostage in Towa City," Nagito answered back. Both Komaru and Mukuro's eyes lit up with surprise and worry from what they heard.

"What!? Makoto is here!?" Komaru shouted, confused from what she just heard.

"Are you lying to us? Makoto should be back at Future Foundation Headquarters. He shouldn't be here," Mukuro questioned, wondering if Nagito was just messing with them.

"No, I'm not. See for yourselves," Nagito said, as he struggled to take out the tablet on his being, as he was still in pain from Mukuro's slashes. He slowly opened up the app on his tablet, that showed a live camera recording. Both girls looked towards it, and their eyes went wide, seeing Makoto in the cell he was in. He was currently sitting on a bed in the room he was trapped in, reading documents from a cardboard box nearby him. "As you can see, he is trapped in Towa City,"

"Tell us where he is!" Mukuro roared feeling anger building up towards Nagito again. The hope obsessed teenager just smiled, feeling as he knew they wouldn't leave Towa City immediately, after all the hostages were saved now.

"Once you've found all the hostages, I'll appear to you both and give you two the information that will push you both towards, what will help you two find him," Nagito explained, as Mukuro did not look satisfied from hearing that. "I assure you, I will make sure he is safe while you two search for the remaining people you intend to save,"

"But how will you know when we've found the remaining hostages, and where to find us?" Komaru questioned. "And won't the kids know about what you're up to?"

"I have my ways," Nagito answered back. "As for the children, I know what I'm doing in regards to them,"

"I swear, Makoto better not be harmed or I will not hesitate to kill you next time," Mukuro threatened with eyes that could murder.

"I assure you, he won't. He is one I admire with great respect. He being the Ultimate Hope," Nagito praised. Nagito then focused on Komaru with a smile. "It'll be alright with Ms. Protagonist involved. Just know that no matter the despair, any hope will over come it. The deeper and darker the despair… the brighter and more powerful hope is born from within it!"

"Yeah… you're crazy alright," Komaru said both a bit nervously and nonchalantly, while Mukuro just glared at Nagito.

"Whatever the case maybe, you two need to keep progressing. I'll still support you both to the very end," Nagito explained. "And that's all the information I wish to give you two for now. Till we meet again. Do your best and defeat despair."

Nagito began to wave to the two, beckoning the two to leave Towa Shrines. Mukuro just rolled her eyes as she turned to face away from Nagito, wondering if he was also someone to deal with after all this besides Haiji and if she wanted too, while Komaru looked uneasy of the boy, before following the soldier girl. Komaru with Grand Bois's cage in tow and Mukuro began to walk away, soon eventually leaving Nagito to himself.

"Just a little longer… and the light of hope will swallow the despair of this place. I can't wait," Nagito whispered to himself full of eagerness and excitement. The still bleeding teenager soon felt and heard stomps approaching as he turned to look behind himself. A shadowy silhouette of a large mech figure stood besides Nagisa, now wearing his own portable controller device. Nagito merely smirked and laughed. "So upset over something like this… you really are a child,"

* * *

Both Komaru and Mukuro were nearing the exit of Towa Shrines as they were walking out of it. Mukuro soon stopped, which caused Komaru to look at the other girl to look at her. She soon said three words.

"Komaru… thank you," Mukuro spoke with appreciation, before she continued to walk. Komaru stood stunned, hearing Mukuro say that to her.

"Your welcome!" Komaru answered as the younger girl soon had a huge happy grin.

"Just know that we will talk more in the future... about a lot of things. I promise you," Mukuro said to her, as both continued walking down the stairs, continuing their journey.

 **To Be Continued**

* * *

 **What did you guys think? Notes as usual.**

 **1\. In the original Another Episode, Komaru "fights," Toko for different reasons, whereas in this version, both Komaru and Mukuro are forced to "fight," due to the drug Nagito used. S** **copolamine is an actual thing in the real world and isn't made up.  
**

 **2\. The Ultimate Nurse is Mikan Tsumiki, one of the members of the Remnants of Despair. Mikan wasn't involved in the original Another Episode whereas in this version she is, being the one that created the drug for Nagito.**

 **Well that's it for notes for this chapter. If anyone has anything they wish to comment, criticize, point out, etc, don't be afraid to do so. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter so far. Till the next chapter!**


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